\EM1N1SCENCES 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  RECENT  PAST 


FROM   A   SOUTHERN    STANDPOINT. 


Reminiscences  of  a  Grandfather. 


'FORSAN  ET  H/EC  OLIM  MEMINISSE  JUVABIT.' 


RICHARD   H.  WILMER, 

BISHOP   OF   ALABAMA. 


NEW  YORK: 
THOMAS     WHITTAKER, 

2   AND  3   BIBLE  HOUSE. 
1887. 


COPYRIGHT,  1887, 
BY  THOMAS  WHITTAKER. 


RAND  AVERY  COMPANY, 

ELECTROTYPERS   AND   PRINTERS, 

BOSTON. 


rzio 


THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED  TO 

Cause  of  £rutfj,  Eigfjt,  antj 

IN  LOVING  MEMORY  OF 

ALL  WHO  GAVE  THEIR  LIVES  FOR  ITS  MAINTENANCE; 

AND  IN  BROTHERLY  RECOGNITION  OF  ALL 

WHO  LIVE  TO  VINDICATE  AND 

DEFEND  IT. 

'The  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable.' 


711G98 


TITLE. 


WHEN  I  had  concluded  to  give  public  expression 
to  the  thoughts  contained  herein,  I  found  it  difficult  to 
determine  upon  a  title  for  the  volume.  Publishers  told 
me  that  the  country  was  flooded  with  "  Reminiscences," 
and  that  the  people  took  no  interest  in  them,  and  that 
"  there  is  every  thing  in  the  name." 

I  first  thought  I  would  call  it  "  Old  Mortality ;  "  for- 
getting, for  the  moment,  that  that  name  had  been  illumi- 
nated and  immortalized  by  the  genius  of  Scott.  So  I  had 
to  abandon  that  idea.  Yet  it  will  be  found  that  in  these 
"  Reminiscences,"  I  have  plied  the  same  vocation  with 
"  Old  Mortality."  As  was  his  wont,  I  have  been  going 
lovingly  and  reverently  among  the  graves  of  our  heroic 
and  sainted  dead.  It  has  been  a  grateful  task  for  me  to 
pluck  a  nettle  here,  and  plant  a  flower  instead ;  with 
sharp  incision  to  freshen  up  some  fading  inscription ;  to 
remove  the  moss  and  lichen  with  which  time  was  in- 
crusting  them,  and  cause  the  very  gravestones  once 

5 


0  TITLE. 

more  —  In  Memoriam  —  to  speak  aloud  the  names  and 
deeds  of  those  who,  in  our  hearts  and  memories,  should 
never  die. 

Let  this  my  purpose  incline  the  youth  of  this  genera- 
tion to  dwell  fondly  upon  "Reminiscences"  dedicated 
to  "the  Cause  and  Maintenance  of  Truth,  Right,  and 
Peace." 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PRELIMINARY 9 

LOYALTY 16 

CITIZENSHIP 20 

THE  CONSTITUTION 24 

WAR  OF  THE  STATES 27 

DOMESTIC  SLAVERY 37 

"UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN" 41 

THE  CHURCH  QUESTION 49 

CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND 52 

CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 57 

How  THE  CHURCH  WAS  PLANTED  IN  AMERICA    ....  59 

JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA 67 

DIFFERENT  RELIGIOUS  BODIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  .  83 

ROMAN,  OR  LATIN,  CHURCH 87 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMUNION 93 

BAPTIST  FRIENDS 99 

THE  METHODISTS in 

CONCLUSION    OF   MATTERS    PERTAINING   TO     RELIGIOUS 

ORGANIZATIONS 114 

SCEPTICISM,  RATIONALISM,  AND  SCIENTISM  ......  118 

POST-BELLUM  REMINISCENCES 139 

INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER 139 

RE-UNION  OF  THE  CHURCHES  NORTH  AND  SOUTH  ...  147 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

A  REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  CIRCULAR  LETTER  TO 

THE  SOUTHERN  BISHOPS,  BY  ONE  OF  THEIR  NUMBER  .  153 

NOTE  BY  BISHOP  GREEN 166 

REV.  WILLIAM  H.  WILMER,  D.D 166 

REMINISCENCES  OF  RIGHT  REV.  J.  P.  B.  WILMER,  D.D., 

LL.D.,  LATE  BISHOP  OF  LOUISIANA 180 

THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA 201 

REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  RIGHT  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER 

COBBS,  D.D 242 

CONCLUSION 271 

APPENDIX 278 


REMINISCENCES  OF  A  GRANDFATHER 


PRELIMINARY. 

"Now  the  days  of  King  David  drew  nigh  that  he  shoidd  die;  and 
he  charged  Solomon  his  son,  saying,  I  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth :  be 
thou  strong  therefore,  and  shew  thyself  a  man  ;  and  keep  the  charge  of 
the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  His  ways,  to  keep  His  statutes,  and  His 
commandments,  and  His  judgments,  and  His  testimonies,  as  it  is  writ- 
ten in  the  law  of  Moses,  that  thou  mayest  prosper  in  all  that  thou  doest, 
and  -whithersoever  thou  turnest  thyself." 

MAN,  as  the  things  of  time  recede  from  sight, 
and  he  is  preparing  to  depart  for  his  long  home, 
would  fain  stamp  immortality  upon  something. 
The  thought  of  annihilation  is  fearful.  If  his  own 
life  has  been  a  failure,  he  will  hope  that  his  pos- 
terity may  make  amends  for  his  own  misdoings  : 
if  his  life  has  yielded  any  good  fruit,  he  may  hope 
that  they  will  bring  it  to  perfection. 

With  some  such  feelings  I  have  jotted  down, 
from  time  to  time,  the  incidents  and  reflections 
contained  in  these  "  Reminiscences."  At  the 
time  of  writing  them,  I  had  no  view  to  publica- 
tion, as  will  appear  from  their  personal  character 


IO       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  familiar  style.  I  thought,  that,  after  I  had 
gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  my  children  and 
children's  children  would  derive  pleasure  and 
profit  from  knowing  the  thoughts  of  one  whose 
memory  they  cherished,  and  who  had  lived  a  long 
life  during  an  eventful  period  of  the  country's 
history. 

But  some  friends,  —  partial  friends,  perhaps,  — 
who  have  run  their  eyes  over  the  manuscript, 
warmly  urge  its  publication,  saying  that  no  exist- 
ing book  covers  exactly  the  same  ground  with 
these  "  Reminiscences."  Yielding  to  their  wishes, 
I  send  the  volume  forth,  to  add  a  drop  more  to  the 
flood  of  publications  which  is  sweeping  on  to  swift 
and  sure  oblivion. 

There  is  one  word  which  I  must  say  at  the  out- 
set, in  order  that  my  language  and  position  may 
be  clearly  understood  and  fairly  interpreted. 

I  speak  plainly  of  matters  political,  sectional, 
social,  and  ecclesiastical  —  of  Northern  and  South- 
ern men,  etc.  The  spurious  charity  of  these  lat- 
ter days  demands  from  me  a  degree  of  reticence, 
caution,  and  suppression  which  I  have  not  exer- 
cised in  these  pages,  and  which  I  deem  utterly 
inconsistent  with  that  divine  charity  which  "  re- 
joiceth  in  the  truth."  Men  are  not  candid  enough 
with  each  other.  They  will  attack  each  other  in 
secret,  but  they  will  not  talk  face  to  face.  This 


PRELIMINAR  Y.  1 1 

may  beget  a  sort  of  love,  and  pass  for  charity,  but 
it  is  not  the  love  which  is  "without  dissimulation." 
In  my  judgment,  many  errors  abound,  and  acquire 
a  sort  of  respectability  because  they  are  not  can- 
didly and  charitably  exposed.  Truth  is  not  so 
hard  to  find  as  men  think.  Error  is  founded  in 
ignorance,  prejudice,  pride,  and  passion.  Let 
"knowledge  with  fervent  charity"  prevail,  and 
men  will  be  drawn  nearer  together  in  heart  and 
mind.  All  else  will  fail  save  charity.  Temporary 
fraternizations,  —  such  as  those  among  the  denomi- 
nations,—  where  all  consent  to  suppress  some  con- 
viction by  way  of  a  truce,  discard  the  very  element 
of  love  which  "rejoiceth  in  the  truth."  Aggre- 
gations of  men  bound  together  by  mechanical  ap- 
pliances only,  fall  to  pieces  for  the  want  of  that 
cement  of  love  which  is  "  the  very  bond  of  peace 
and  of  all  virtues." 

Judged  by  the  modern  ideas  of  charity,  I  trust 
that  I  shall  be  condemned  as  an  uncharitable  man, 
for  I  enjoy  the  ill  judgment  of  some  people ;  but, 
judged  by  a  higher  standard,  I  hope  to  stand  ac- 
quitted before  God,  even  as  I  am  in  all  conscience, 
for  "rejoicing  in  the  truth." 

When,  then,  in  these  pages  I  speak  of  the  North 
and  Northern  men,  I  have  not  in  my  eye  that  large 
body  of  people  whose  culture,  refinement,  and 
large-hearted  generosity  challenge  my  admiration, 


12       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  has  oftentimes  elicited  my  personal  gratitude. 
"  O,  si  sic  omnes  !  "  But  I  speak  of  that  fanatical, 
and  at  times  dominant,  element,  which  having 
waged  a  destructive  war  (and  for  that  it  becomes 
me  to  make  no  moan),  and  after  having  destroyed 
our  wealth,  and  laid  waste  our  territory,  and  revo- 
lutionized our  domestic  and  political  life,  persist- 
ently aims  at  our  humiliation,  still  plies  us  with 
ignominious  epithets,  and,  to  use  a  vulgar  current 
phrase,  "still  waves  the  bloody  shirt." 

I  was  written  to  some  years  ago  by  an  editor  of 
the  North,  who  wished  to  know  the  reason  for  the 
solidarity  of  the  South,  and  whether  I,  in  my  posi- 
tion, could  not  write  or  do  something  to  dissolve 
it.  He  must  have  been  "an  innocent,"  or  thought 
me  one.  The  weather  at  the  time  was  cold  be- 
yond precedent,  and  our  waters  were  frozen  over. 
I  replied  to  him  in  one  sentence :  "The  solidarity 
of  the  South  is  due  to  the  same  cause  that  just 
now  makes  our  water  solid,  —  unfriendly  breezes 
from  the  North." 

Again,  when  I  speak  of  "denominational  bodies 
of  Christians,"  I  have  not  in  view  that  noble 
army  of  learned,  devout,  and  zealous  Christians  of 
nearly  all  names,  whom  I  feel  all  too  unworthy  to 
call  brethren ;  for  I  would  love  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
some  of  those  men,  and  learn  from  them  how  to  be 
more  like  our  common  Lord  and  Saviour,  by  Whose 


PRELIMINAR  Y.  13 

blood  we  were  all  redeemed,  and  of  Whose  life,  I 
trust,  I  am  partaker  with  them.  No  !  I  have  not 
such  men  in  my  eye  ;  they  are  of  the  "  Brother- 
hood," whom  I  am  glad  to  love  ;  and  my  very  love 
for  them  causes  me  to  contend  for,  and  rejoice  in, 
the  truth,  which  would  bring  us  all  together,  and 
make  us  one  in  Christ  Jesus,  even  as  He  and  the 
Father  are  One.  Then  we  should  not,  as  un- 
happily we  are  now  doing,  "live  apart,"  but 
"  dwell  together  "  in  unity. 

No!  I  am  speaking  of  communities — humanly 
organized,  as  they  appear  to  my  eye  —  which, 
without  adequate  cause  or  warranty,  have  created 
sects  and  divisions  in  Christendom,  thereby 
breaking  the  line  of  the  Church  Militant,  and 
enfeebling  its  power  of  resisting  the  combined 
power  of  Satan  and  his  hosts.  His  kingdom  is 
not  divided.  The  divided  Church  feels  now  the 
force  of  the  shock  from  his  concentrated  assaults. 
I  speak  earnestly  and  in  unmistakable  language 
on  this  point.  We  cannot  promote  unity  by 
thinking  or  speaking  lightly  of  divisions  among 
Christians.  No  malignant  evil  was  ever  remedied 
by  treating  it  as  a  matter  of  no  consequence.  If 
there  be  ever  any  real  movement  towards  Chris- 
tian unity,  it  must  be  preceded  by  some  clear  and 
distinct  conviction  of  the  nature,  causes,  and  guilt 
of  schism. 


14       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Meanwhile  "this  Church"  of  ours,  recognizing 
every  baptized  man  as  a  member  of  Christ,  offers 
to  meet  Christendom  on  the  broad  platform  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  ancient  Creeds,  the  divinely 
ordered  Sacraments,  and  the  Apostolical  ministry. 
Rome  would  meet  us  there  to-day  by  discarding 
her  new  doctrines,  and  becoming  catholic,  as  she 
once  was.  But  I  am  somewhat  anticipating. 

One  chief  reason  for  giving  these  reminiscences 
to  the  public,  is  that  I  may  help  to  keep  sacred  in 
the  memory  of  the  rising  generation  the  traditions 
of  their  fathers.  A  new  generation  ordinarily 
little  cares  for,  and  little  acquaints  itself  with,  the 
past.  This  results  in  part  from  the  fact  that 
ordinarily  parents  concern  themselves  too  little 
with  the  opinions  of  their  children  on  matters 
past,  present,  or  to  come.  I  do  not  share  this 
indifference.  I  have  a  special  fear  that  our  young 
people,  as  they  recede  farther  and  farther  from  our 
times,  will  gather  their  views  of  the  recent  past 
from  partisan  histories  rather  than  from  sacredly 
preserved  traditions.  The  school-books  and  his- 
tories of  our  times  are,  as  a  general  rule,  from 
Northern  sources  :  their  authors  naturally  look 
at  all  these  matters  with  other  eyes  than  ours. 
I  cannot  endure  to  think  that  any  descendant  of 
mine  shall  open,  say,  a  catechism,  and  find  Benedict 
Arnold,  Jefferson  Davis,  and  Robert  E.  Lee  chosen 


PRELIMINAR  Y.  15 

out  to  exemplify  Treason  and  Rebellion.  It  was 
bruited  abroad  that  there  was  such  a  catechism, 
but  I  can  hardly  believe  without  ocular  demon- 
stration. I  want  our  young  people  to  know  what  I 
know,  —  that  the  two  men  last  named  in  the  list  of 
"  traitors  "  were  men  who  exemplified  through  life 
every  trait  of  honor  and  loyalty. 

Nor  can  I  endure  to  think  that  my  grandsons 
shall  be  set  down  to  read  histories  which  tell 
them  that  their  ancestors  were  "  tyrants  to  their 
servants,"  "rebels  against  their  government,"  and 
"traitors  to  their  country."  So  far  as  in  me  lies, 
this  shall  never  be ;  and  shame  to  every  man  who 
loves  not  to  pluck  the  nettles  from  the  graves  of 
his  sires,  and  strew  them  with  flowers  ! 

As  it  regards  myself,  I  have  saved  much  time 
and  correspondence  by  putting  these  thoughts 
in  print.  To  every-day  letters  and  inquiries,  I 
shall  be  enabled  to  say,  "  Here  in  this  volume  is 
what  I  think  upon  such  matters."  We  have  in 
our  midst  many  earnest  and  ingenuous  young  men, 
who  respect  the  memory  of  their  fathers,  some 
of  whom,  alas  !  are  buried  on  unknown  battle- 
fields. They  come  to  me,  and  say,  "  My  father  is, 
stigmatized  in  these  books  and  newspapers  as  a 
'rebel'  and  a  'traitor:'  how  is  this?"  —  "Well, 
my  son,"  say  I,  "if  your  father  was  a  rebel,  I  was 
one,  and  so  was  every  cultured  man  of  the  Far 


1 6       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

South,  almost  without  exception.     Here  in  these 
'  Reminiscences  '  is  our  view  of  this  matter." 

I  suppose  that  few  will  read  these  pages,  save 
those  who  sympathize  with  my  views.  To  such 
persons  I  am  enabled  to  say,  if  you  wish  your 
children  to  understand  and  reverence  the  tradi- 
tions of  our  people,  you  may  possibly  find  in  this 
volume  some  thoughts  that  may  help  to  keep 
green  in  their  memories  the  days  of  "  Auld  Lang 
Syne,"  and  warm  and  sacred  in  their  hearts  recol- 
lections of  "  The  Old  Folks  at  Home" 

LOYALTY. 

THE  thoughts,  which  I  now  submit  for  considera- 
tion in  the  following  pages,  were  written  for  your 
eyes  alone,  and  not  with  any  idea  of  publication. 
Whilst  writing  my  will,  and  leaving  some  few  in- 
junctions to  you,  the  question  came  across  my 
mind,  Why  should  not  a  father  tell  his  children 
more  of  his  opinions  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  and  thus  enable  them  to  gather  his  views 
upon  questions  of  deep  concernment  to  all  genera- 
tions ?  Following  out  this  thought,  I  have  herein 
set  down  for  your  consideration  the  conclusions 
which  I,  in  common  with  men  of  my  class  and 
position,  have  reached  upon  matters  —  some  of 
them,  at  least  —  of  enduring  interest.  You  are 
now  reading,  and  will  continue  to  read,  the  his- 


LOYALTY.  I/ 

tories  of  the  past  and  present  day  ;  but  you  can- 
not gather  with  satisfaction  the  tone  and  temper 
of  an  age  from  any  general  history.  We  glean 
from  some  works  of  fiction  —  say  Scott's  novels 
—  clearer  ideas  of  the  times  of  which  they  are 
written,  than  you  can  possibly  do  from  any  gen- 
eral history  of  the  same  era.  It  is  quite  notable 
that  Scott's  novels  are  hardly  fictions,  and  his 
history  of  Napoleon  is  almost  a  falsehood.  Scott's 
genius  has  illuminated  his  native  land  through  his 
novels. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  one  generation  can 
only  bequeath  knowledge  and  treasure  to  that  suc- 
ceeding it.  This  is,  in  the  main,  true.  Wisdom  is 
to  be  won  in  the  battle  of  life,  each  gaining  it  for 
himself.  Knowledge  is  cumulative ;  so  is  wealth. 
But  when  children  ponder  lovingly  the  thoughts 
of  their  forefathers,  there  must  be  some  small 
residuum  of  wisdom  deposited  besides  the  knoivl- 
edge  gained.  At  all  events,  I  have  given  you  these 
reminiscences  in  the  hope  that  I  may  —  not  fetter 
the  minds  of  my  descendants,  for  they  should  be 
wiser  than  he  who  writes  these  lines,  but  —  keep 
them  on  the  right  track  of  thought,  and  hold  them 
true  and  loyal  to  the  traditions  of  their  forefathers. 
This  sentiment  of  loyalty  is  a  necessary  part  of 
an  integral  character,  as  is  conscience,  although, 
like  conscience,  liable  to  be  illy  instructed,  mis- 


1 8       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

guided,  and  even  perverted.  One  cannot  be  a 
whole  man,  who  is  without  loyalty.  It  is  the 
cement  of  home,  the  bond  of  society,  the  defence 
of  states, — yea !  the  essence  of  piety.  To  cherish 
it,  and  guide  it,  and  instruct  it,  is  a  large  part  of 
education. 

Loyalty  does  not  hold  one  slavishly  and  unques- 
tioningly  to  the  traditions  of  one's  family  and 
country,  for  then  men  could  never  change  and 
never  improve.  And  there  is,  necessarily,  no  vio- 
lation of  loyalty  in  departing  from  transmitted 
and  hereditary  ideas.  For  if  one  changes  the 
opinions  which  he  received  by  inheritance,  be- 
cause convinced  that  his  ideas  were  not  well 
founded  in  truth,  and  takes  hold  of  those  things 
which  he  believes  to  be  true,  howsoever  at  vari- 
ance with  inherited  convictions,  such  a  one  is,  in 
the  highest  sense,  loyal — loyal  to  Him  who  is 
Truth.  The  lower  gives  way  to  the  higher ;  the 
less  gives  place  to  the  greater  ;  the  reverence  for 
the  earthly  merges  in  the  reverence  due  the  heav- 
enly—  as  the  moon  and  stars  become  invisible 
when  the  sun  rules  the  day.  Therefore  I  like  it 
not  when  I  hear  it  said,  "  I  will  not  go  back  upon 
my  father's  or  my  mother's  opinions  or  creed." 
The  sentiment  which  inspires  such  declarations  is 
most  praiseworthy ;  but  if  the  parents  unfortu- 
nately were  in  error  (and  the  best  parents,  as  all 


LOYALTY.  19 

admit,  are  liable  to  err),  it  binds  one  to  error, 
which  is  disloyalty  to  truth.  Thus,  a  misguided 
loyalty  may  end  in  actual  treason.  Better  to  say, 
"  My  parents,  with  the  light  they  had,  held  such 
and  such  an  opinion.  With  the  light  before  me, 
I  cannot  hold  the  same  opinion.  With  my  light, 
they  would,  in  all  probability,  have  come  to  a  dif- 
ferent opinion.  I  cannot  go  back  upon  them,  but 
I  must  go  forward  from  them,  and  move  with  the 
ever-moving  world  nearer  the  '  Father  of  Lights,' 
with  Whom,  and  Whom  alone,  there  is  no  'varia- 
bleness or  shadow  of  turning.' J:  I  write  this 
much  that  my  children  may  not  misunderstand  me 
in  what  I  shall  hereinafter  advise  them.  I  shall 
give  them  my  counsel,  and  I  know  that  they  will 
weigh  it  well ;  and  this  is  all  that  I  can  properly 
claim  at  their  hands.  I  only  wish  them  to  be 
clear  in  this;  viz.,  "Follow  truth  and  right 
always."  That  means  to  follow  Him  Who  is  the 
Truth.  That  is  the  meaning  of  that  mighty 
declaration,  "Whosoever  shall  love  any  thing  — 
houses,  lands,  father  and  mother,  wife  and  chil- 
dren—  more  than  Me,  is  not  worthy  of  Me." 
The  world  might  exist  without  the  light  of  the 
planets,  but  how  without  the  light  of  the  life- 
giving  sun  ?  He  who  most  loves  the  truth 
and  the  right,  will  most  honor  his  parents,  for 
honor  and  reverence  to  parents  is  a  part  of  the 


20       REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

truth.  The  whole  of  the  truth  is  very  vast 
indeed.  Draw  near  to  it,  my  children,  embrace  it, 
cleave  steadfastly  unto  it ;  let  its  arms  be  around 
thy  neck,  its  kiss  upon  thy  forehead ;  plant  thy 
feet  upon  it,  and  let  it  be  a  crown  of  glory  to  thy 
head.  As  thou  art  true,  so  shalt  thou  be. 

CITIZENSHIP. 

LET  us  look  around  about  us.  Perhaps  I  should 
begin  more  properly  with  the  individual,  and  talk 
to  you  about  the  man,  his  body,  soul,  and  spirit. 
If  I  live  to  complete  this  letter,  I  may,  perhaps, 
touch  all  these  several  points.  But  just  now  I 
feel  more  disposed  to  treat  and  get  rid  of  cer- 
tain matters  of  a  more  general  description,  hoping 
that  as  I  get  nearer  the  end  of  life,  and  get  more 
of  the  light  that  streams  from  the  "Delectable 
Mountains,"  I  may  have  more  to  tell  you  of  that 
other  country  for  which  we  are  all  bound,  and  on 
the  confines  of  which  I  know  that  I  am  now 
standing.  Of  this,  more  anon.  I  want  now  to 
say  something  about  your  earthly  citizcnsJiip.  No 
man  liveth  to  himself.  He  is  a  member  of  society, 
and  under  government.  The  books  of  history 
and  geography  which  you  may  read  will  give  you 
all  that  you  need  to  know  in  a  general  way 
about  the  several  continents  and  countries,  etc. 
I  let  all  that  pass,  only  observing  that  histories,  as 


CITIZENSHIP.  21 

a  general  rule,  are  one-sided,  partisan,  and  partial, 
recording  the  facts  from  many  various  and  con- 
flicting stand-points,  insomuch  that  we  are  often 
compelled,  with  Pilate,  to  exclaim,  "What  is 
truth  ? "  To  go  into  this  matter  (at  any  sufficient 
length  to  make  it  profitable),  I  find  impracticable. 
Let  it  suffice  for  me  to  say  this  much  :  The  his- 
tory of  one  age  is  pretty  much  the  history  of  all 
ages ;  that  which  hath  been,  is  now,  and  until 
something,  as  yet  unknown  to  history,  shall  inter- 
vene, will  most  likely  continue  to  be ;  and  there 
is,  so  far  as  human  nature  is  concerned,  "  nothing 
new  under  the  sun." 

There  is  one  matter  about  which  I  feel  especially 
solicitous  that  you  should  be  rightly  informed ;  and 
that  is,  the  political  history  of  your  own  country, 
and  section  of  country.  We  have  passed  through, 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years,  a  mighty  revolu- 
tion. That  revolution  effected  a  mighty  change 
in  the  character  of  our  government  and  institu- 
tions. It  is  most  important  for  you  to  understand 
the  merits  of  that  conflict  of  ideas  which  con- 
vulsed the  minds  of  the  people,  North  and  South, 
and  finally  culminated  in  a  sectional  war,  which 
turned  a  million  of  men  to  ashes,  and  covered  the 
whole  land  with  mourning.  Even  at  this  present 
moment,  as  I  write,  we  seem  to  walk  on  molten 
lava,  whose  surface  is  scarcely  cooled.  Your 


22        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

father,  who  is  writing  these  lines,  was  deeply 
and  passionately  involved  on  the  side  of  his  State 
and  section ;  ready,  if  his  ministerial  calling  had 
not  forbidden,  to  have  shouldered  his  musket,  and 
entered  the  fight.  As  it  was,  under  a  temporary 
access  of  passion,  he  became  captain  of  a  home- 
guard,  and  drilled  daily,  while  yet  rector  of  a 
church  near  Richmond,  Va.  I  mention  this  to 
give  you  an  idea  of  the  intensity  of  the  excitement. 
Your  grand-uncle,  the  Rev.  Lemuel  Wilmer,  who 
was,  as  he  viewed  it,  an  ardent  patriot,  wrote  me 
after  the  war  was  over,  that,  when  Maryland  was 
invaded,  he  went  to  Washington  with  musket  on 
his  shoulder,  and  took  his  place  in  the  trenches. 
He  was  then  an  old  man,  and  had  been  rector  of 
Port  Tobacco  Parish  for  half  a  century.  I  refer 
to  this  incident  to  show  you  that  some  of  our 
blood  still  live  up  to  the  motto  on  the  family  coat- 
of-arms,  —  " Facit  quod  suscipit"  A  little  reflec- 
tion served  to  cool  the  heat  of  my  fever,  and 
turned  my  attention  to  a  more  legitimate  sphere 
of  action.  Besides,  I  read  that  the  "  Son  of  man  " 
—  whose  servant  I  was  —  "came,  not  to  destroy 
men's  lives,  but  to  save  them  ; "  and  I  read  also, 
that  "  the  servant  must  be  as  Ins  lord."  While  the 
war  lasted,  I  did  what  I  could  for  the  wounded 
and  the  sick,  and  blew  the  trumpet  to  excite  men 
to  action  in  the  field  ;  taking  as  my  warranty  for 


CITIZENSHIP.  23 

doing  this  much,  the  permission  given  to  the  Jew- 
ish Priesthood,  "to  blow  the  silver  trumpets  in 
case  of  a  war  of  invasion."  You  will  have  read, 
and  will  continue  to  read,  as  they  are  published, 
many  histories  of  that  conflict.  I  do  not  wish  to 
so  bias  your  minds  as  that  they  shall  not  take  a 
calmer,  and  perhaps  clearer,  view  of  that  conflict 
of  ideas  and  of  arms  than  I,  from  my  position, 
could  be  expected  to  do.  Your  own  views  on 
this  matter  will,  and  must,  depend,  in  great  meas- 
ure, upon  the  description  of  books  that  you  are 
likely  to  read.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  North 
does  most  of  the  publishing  of  books, — and  es- 
pecially of  school-books,  —  you  will  most  likely  at 
school  be  in  a  situation  to  imbibe  Northern  ideas 
of  the  origin,  causes,  etc.,  of  the  whole  revolution ; 
to  hear  many  whose  names  have  stood  high  for 
learning,  character,  and  for  all  that  makes  up  true 
nobility,  characterized  as  "rebels,"  "traitors," 
and  the  like ;  and  a  great,  though  ineffectual, 
struggle  for  right  and  compact  denounced  as 
"The  Great  Rebellion."  Well,  if  all  this  was  as 
our  enemies  allege,  I  have  no  wish  to  so  forestall 
your  minds  with  opinions  to  the  contrary  as  to 
close  them  to  the  entrance  of  the  truth.  For 
truth,  like  the  King's  messenger,  has  authority  to 
enter  the  mind  and  the  heart  "  in  the  name  of  the 
King.'"  Our  only  privilege  is,  to  inquire  whether 


24        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

it  is  the  King's  messenger.  To  guide  you  in 
such  an  inquiry,  and  to  dictate  not  at  all,  is  the 
object  of  this  writing. 

THE  CONSTITUTION. 

WHEN  we  look  back  to  the  early  history  of  the 
United  States,  we  find  that  certain  colonies, 
peopled  from  the  British  Isles  for  the  most  part, 
were  stretched  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Disaf- 
fection sprang  up  among  the  colonists,  principally 
because  of  taxes  laid  upon  the  people,  without 
privilege  of  representation.  By  little  and  little, 
they  came  at  last  to  war.  The  conflict  was  waged 
with  varying  fortunes  for  some  years.  Epithets 
of  "rebels"  and  "traitors,"  etc.,  were  as  freely 
applied  to  our  forefathers  on  the  part  of  the 
Mother  Country,  as  by  the  North  to  ourselves  in 
our  so-called  "Rebellion."  The  issue,  as  you 
know,  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  revolting  colo- 
nies, whose  "  Declaration  of  Independence  "  was 
made  good  by  the  arbitrament  of  war.  These 
colonies,  thus  set  free  to  govern  themselves  (their 
independence  as  separate  States  having  been  ac- 
knowledged by  Great  Britain),  soon  began  to  cast 
about  for  an  alliance  among  themselves  closer 
than  that  of  the  "Articles  of  Confederation" 
which  they  had  adopted.  The  materials  to  be 
united  were  in  some  respects  heterogeneous,  their 


THE   CONSTITUTION.  2$ 

interests  somewhat  conflicting,  and  their  ideas  of 
the  government  to  be  formed  widely  variant. 
However,  after  much  debate,  they  finally  united 
under  the  "Constitution  of  the  United  States," 
—  the  same  instrument  that  now  exists,  except 
(besides  some  amendments  made  soon  after  its 
adoption)  the  important  and  radical  changes  which 
resulted  from  the  war  between  the  States.  I  do 
not  purpose  going  into  a  minute  history  of  the 
events  which  led  to  this  consummation,  nor  to 
touch  upon  the  original  differences  of  opinion 
which  required  to  be  harmonized  and  adjusted 
before  the  Constitution  found  general  acceptance 
and  adoption.  Two  quite  equally  divided  parties 
struggled  for  the  mastery,  —  the  one  contended 
for  a  strong  central  government,  the  other  for  a 
more  decided  recognition  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  several  States.  The  result  was  a  Constitution 
which  aimed  to  embody  both  features,  and  it  re- 
quired a  bloody  war  to  settle  the  meaning  of  the 
Constitution.  In  other  words,  the  party  which 
could  bring  the  greatest  number  of  soldiers  into 
the  field  had  their  own  way  in  interpreting  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution,  and  thus,  practically, 
the  question  concerning  the  power  to  secede  was 
for  the  time  determined  ;  the  question  of  original 
right  under  the  Constitution  not  being,  by  gun- 
powder, determinable. 


26        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Let  me  digress  for  a  moment  at  this  point,  to 
pay  my  willing  tribute  to  the  genius  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  in  my  judgment,  the  largest-minded 
statesman  that  this  continent  has  produced.  Ham- 
ilton was  the  leader  of  the  Federal  party,  and  con- 
tended for  a  government  with  such  centripetal 
power  that  it  could  not  fly  to  pieces  in  the  revolu- 
tion of  affairs.  Had  his  principles  fully  obtained, 
and  been  ingrafted  in  the  Constitution,  — or,  rather, 
had  been  made  the  framework  of  the  same,  — 
questions  of  secession  could  not  have  well  arisen, 
or  at  least  could  not  have  arisen  upon  an  interpre- 
tation of  the  Constitution.  His  broad  views  of 
human  affairs,  and  his  far-seeing  sagacity,  taught 
him  that  all  confederated  sovereignties  tended  to 
consolidation.  His  views,  if  they  had  to  the  full 
prevailed,  would  have  rendered  impossible  the 
agitation  of  secession,  as  a  right  under  the  Con- 
stitution. Consolidation  has  taken  place,  but  by 
war.  He  wanted  it  to  take  place,  and  to  hold 
its  place,  by  original  formation.  His  ounce  of 
prevention  would  have  saved  many  pounds  of 
cure.  The  history  of  nations,  without  exception, 
goes  to  show  that  there  is  no  longevity  in  con- 
federated or  united  sovereignties,  —  in  proof,  the 
Saxon  Heptarchy,  the  principalities  of  Germany, 
the  republics  of  Italy,  the  Dukedoms  of  France, 
etc.  But  Hamilton's  views  did  not  wholly  pre- 


WAR   OF  THE  STATES.  2J 

vail.  All  such  differences  as  existed  between 
him  and  the  opposite  party  were  settled  by  the 
adoption  of  a  compromise  Constitution,  recog- 
nizing enough  of  State  sovereignty  to  keep  up 
the  idea  of  separate  and  independent  action  on 
the  part  of  the  several  States,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  absorbing  so  much  power,  denned  or  implied 
in  the  Federal  Government,  as  to  cripple  the 
States,  and  render  them  helpless  in  an  hour  when 
they  might  attempt  to  redress  a  wrong,  or,  if  that 
seemed  hopeless,  to  fly  for  safety  —  secede  was 
the  word  used  to  express  the  idea.  Whether  the 
original  Constitution  was  the  best  that  could  have 
been  framed,  is  one  question ;  how  it  was  really 
made,  is  quite  another.  Had  the  idea  of  the  Fed- 
eralists prevailed  fully,  the  question  of  right  to 
secede  could  never  have  arisen.  But  it  did  not 
fully  prevail.  Thus,  antagonistic  views  existed  as 
germs  in  the  very  Constitution  itself,  and  bayo- 
nets were  called  in  to  skewer  the  people  together. 
An  examination  of  the  present  Constitution  as 
amended  by  war  has  somewhat  of  a  post-mortem 
character. 

WAR  OF  THE  STATES. 

BUT  how  came  the  Southern  States  to  secede, 
and  which  section  of  the  country  must  bear  the 
responsibility  of  the  work  of  its  consequent 
horrors  ?  A  vast  question  indeed,  and  one  upon 


28        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

which  libraries  will  be  written  before  new  events 
shall  have  buried  this  question  among  other  dead 
issues. 

The  ablest  and  fairest  exposition  of  this  ques- 
tion, in  my  judgment,  is  from  the  pen  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  President  of  the  Confederate  States  while 
they  lasted.  It  is  a  calm  and  statesmanlike  re- 
view of  the  whole  subject-matter.  Davis  will  be 
pilloried  in  Northern  histories  as  an  "  arch-rebel," 
and  traitorous  to  the  core.  So  much  for  the 
truth  of  partisan  history !  While,  on  the  con- 
trary, his  whole  history  will  show  that  he  was  a 
calm,  clear-headed,  and  large-hearted  man,  chosen 
in  the  hour  of  need  for  his  known  merits,  and  on 
the  strength  of  his  history,  which  was  not  obscure 
nor  ignoble.  That  he  failed,  was  not  extraordi- 
nary ;  that  he  held  out  so  long,  was  the  marvel. 
I  write  from  much  knowledge  of  the  man.  If 
you  would  understand  him  and  the  history  of  his 
times,  read  his  book,  "  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,"  —  unanswered  and  unan- 
swerable, as  we  of  the  South  think. 

But  there  was  a  feature  in  the  history  of  the 
Southern  struggle  for  independence  which  you 
must  understand  in  order  to  do  justice  to  your 
ancestors  in  regard  to  the  part  which  they  felt 
constrained  by  their  interest,  by  their  sense  of 
personal  self-respect,  and  by  their  loyalty,  to  main- 
tain to  the  end. 


WAR   OF   THE  STATES.  29 

Slavery  existed  in  the  United  States  at  an 
early  day.  It  was  not  confined  to  the  Southern 
section.  Northern  vessels  brought  the  slaves 
from  Africa,  and  they  were  held  in  bondage  when- 
ever it  was  found  profitable  to  hold  them.  The 
climate  of  the  South  best  suited  the  native  Afri- 
can, and  his  labor  was  found  more  profitable  upon 
a  Southern  soil.  Consequently,  the  larger  popu- 
lation of  slaves  were  gathered  in  the  Southern 
section  of  this  country.  They  constituted  the 
greater  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  Southern  States. 
Their  status  must  be  provided  for  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  thus  a  guaranty  be  afforded  that  the 
Southern  States  should  be  protected  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  property.  For  a  while  things 
went  on  smoothly ;  but,  very  soon,  strong  and 
fanatical  ideas  began  to  take  possession  of  North- 
ern minds.  It  manifested  itself  in  every  possible 
way,  —  in  efforts  to  legislate  slavery  out  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  ;  in  efforts  to  circumscribe 
the  area  of  slavery  by  excluding  it  from  the  Terri- 
tories, the  common  home  and  property  of  the 
peoples  of  all  the  States ;  in  incendiary  pam- 
phlets ;  in  books  of  fiction  ;  in  books  for  the  school- 
room ;  in  organizations  for  kidnapping  slaves,  and 
helping  them  to  their  freedom  ;  in  fierce  debates 
upon  the  floors  of  Congress,  and  at  last  in  an  inva- 
sion by  armed  men  of  the  soil  of  Virginia,  with 


30        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

implements  of  war  to  arm  the  emancipated  slave. 
This  last  event  occurred  in  October,  1859.  And 
there  are  living  men  who  enroll  the  leader  of  that 
murderous  band  in  the  noble  Army  of  Martyrs. 
God  help  them  !  Up  to  this  time  the  General 
Government  had  committed  itself  to  no  act  which 
could  be  construed  as  offensive  and  aggressive 
towards  the  South.  But  events  rapidly  progressed. 
The  abolition  spirit  had  grown  with  great  rapidity 
and  intensity.  It  soon  became  a  political  power, 
then  a  political  party,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
electing  a  President  upon  a  platform  of  principles 
which  was  undisguisedly  hostile  to  Southern  insti- 
tutions and  property.  With  the  more  violent 
members  of  the  "Republican"  party, — for. such 
was  their  name,  —  the  "  Constitution  "  of  the  coun- 
try (a  solemn  compact  between  the  States,  and 
the  sole  guaranty  under  which  the  Southern 
States  held  their  institutions)  was  denounced  as 
2.  "  Covenant  with  Hell "  because  it  protected  the 
South  in  their  property.  In  some  instances  State 
legislation  obstructed  by  penal  laws  the  restora- 
tion of  slaves,  a  right  to  which  had  been  secured 
in  the  Constitution.  The  question  now  arose,  — 
and  it  was  a  question  so  large,  and  involving  so 
much  that  was  dear  and  valuable,  that  it  stirred 
every  heart,  —  "  What  shall  we  do  ?  Hitherto  we 
have  been  able  to  appeal  to  the  General  Govern- 


WAR   OF  THE  STATES.  31 

ment.  That  Government  will  soon  be  in  the 
hands  of  men,  the  most  violent  of  whom  will 
without  scruple  invade  our  rights."  "Shall  we 
secede,  and  live  to  ourselves  ? "  said  the  believers 
in  the  right  of  secession.  "Shall  we  wait,  and 
see  whether  the  incendiary  will  apply  his  torch  ?  " 
said  the  more  timid  and  cautious.  "  Shall  we  go 
out  from  the  Union  as  separate  States,  or  shall 
we  act  with  others  ? "  said  the  more  wary  co-oper- 
ant.  "  Shall  we  wait  until  we  receive  the  blow, 
or  shall  we  give  it  ourselves  ? "  said  the  multitude. 
Such  were  the  questions  that  agitated  every 
family  circle  throughout  the  country.  People 
answered  this  question,  as  people  always  do,  ac- 
cording to  their  kind  —  each  after  his  own  order. 
Some  thoughtful  and  far-seeing  men  saw  at  a 
glance  that  if  a  movement  were  to  be  made,  it 
should  be  made  at  once.  They  argued,  that,  if 
you  saw  a  man  about  to  enter  your  premises  with 
harsh  and  dangerous  intent,  it  would  not  be  wise 
to  wait  until  he  had  struck  you  down  before  you 
took  measures  of  self-defence ;  and  they  con- 
tended that  the  attitude  of  the  Republican  party, 
now  for  the  first  time  in  power,  with  all  their  past 
history  and  utterances  to  interpret  their  intended 
deeds,  was  hostile,  and  would  be  aggressive,  and 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  country  would  no 
longer  be  a  shield  and  defence  to  them.  But,  on 


32        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

the  other  hand,  there  were  other  men,  equally 
sincere,  who  loved  the  Union  with  a  deep  devo- 
tion (such  men  as  Bishop  Meade  and  General 
Lee),  and  who  were  willing  to  sacrifice  all,  save 
honor,  to  their  country's  cause.  In  a  word,  some 
were  for  going  out  at  once,  some  for  waiting,  some 
for  temporizing,  some  few  for  yielding.  Mean- 
while, events  moved  fast.  State  after  State  se- 
ceded. The  believers  in  State  sovereignty 
esteemed  it  loyalty  to  follow  the  action  of  their 
respective  States.  Following  the  logical  sequence, 
they  scrupled  not  to  seize  upon  the  fortresses  at 
the  mouths  of  their  harbors.  They  argued,  and 
with  reason,  that  these  fortresses  were  erected 
for  the  defence  of  the  cities  which  they  protected  ; 
they  were  builded  in  part  with  the  money  of  the 
people  whose  interests  they  were  designed  to 
guard,  and  were  the  common  property  of  the 
States  which  they  respectively  defended.  Now, 
it  looked  as  if  the  General  Government  was  about 
to  use  these  forts  to  injure  the  Southern  States. 
They  were  proceeding  to  garrison  and  provision 
them  for  war- — notably,  the  Fortress  of  Sum- 
ter,  which  protected  the  city  of  Charleston,  and 
also  commanded  the  city  with  its  guns.  The 
Federal  Government  manoeuvred  so  as  to  make 
the  South  seem  to  take  the  initiative  in  the  con- 
flict. By  an  attempt  to  re-enforce  Fort  Sumter, 


WAR   OF  THE  STATES.  33 

which,  in  effect,  meant  to  batter  down  Charleston, 
they  compelled  the  Southern  troops  to  fire  the 
first  gun,  and  thus  secured  the  prestige  which,  on 
the  surface,  made  the  South  appear  to  be  the 
aggressive  party.  This  fired  the  whole  North, 
brought  out  a  proclamation  for  troops  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  thus  was 
fired  in  turn  the  heart  of  the  South ;  and  the 
whole  country  was  plunged  into  a  sectional  war 
with  an  intensity  of  passion  which  has  seldom,  if 
ever,  had  its  parallel  in  history.  All  thought  of 
continued  Union  vanished  from  the  mildest  and 
most  conservative  men.  Henceforth  the  Union 
man  in  the  South  was  reckoned  to  be  traitorous, 
and  was  so  branded.  In  the  Far  South,  with  the 
exception  of  a  very  few,  every  Southern  man  of 
honor  and  character  and  standing  ranged  himself 
under  the  banner  of  his  own  State.  The  whole 
country  was  in  arms,  and  very  soon,  as  the  his- 
tories of  the  time  will  show,  in  mourning.  The 
war  was  fierce,  bloody,  and  protracted.  The 
issue,  although  at  times  looking  favorable  to 
the  South,  was  not  long  doubtful.  The  North 
had  population,  arms,  and  access  to  the  world. 
The  Southern  ports  were  blockaded,  powder  had 
to  be  made  or  smuggled,  and  she  was  shut  out 
from  the  world  to  her  own  resources.  Besides, 
her  population,  originally  smaller  than  that  of  the 


34        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

North,  was  divided.  Nearly  all  of  the  Southern 
border  States  furnished  men  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment ;  and,  in  the  progress  of  the  war,  the 
negroes  by  tens  of  thousands  were  enlisted  by 
their  emancipators.  Thus,  a  small  remnant  fought 
nearly  the  whole  nation.  In  the  progress  of  the 
war,  the  North  refused  to  exchange  prisoners  ; 
and,  inasmuch  as  they  had  the  most  men,  the 
South  suffered  most  from  this  barbarous  policy, 
compelling  us  to  keep  a  large  number  of  prison- 
ers when  we  had  hard  work  to  feed  our  own  men, 
and  then,  forsooth,  making  the  prisoners,  whom 
they  held,  responsible  for  the  alleged  privations  of 
the  prisoners  for  whom  they  would  not  exchange. 
The  policy  was  to  swap  down  on  the  part  of  the 
strongest  side.  But  this  is  a  long  story,  and  con- 
temporary history  is  full  of  mutual  criminations 
and  recriminations.  The  fact  is,  however,  that 
the  records  show  more  deaths  proportionately 
among  the  prisoners  in  Northern  hands  than 
among  those  in  our  hands  ;  and  this  is  a  sufficient 
answer  in  the  large  to  the  charges  of  cruelty  to 
prisoners,  which  you  will  read  of  in  Northern  his- 
tories. But  I  must  not  dwell  longer  on  this  mat- 
ter. A  word,  however,  upon  two  points  before 
leaving  this  subject. 

I  spoke  of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter.     North- 
ern history  expatiates  on  that   fact,  and  iterates 


WAR   OF  THE  STATES.  35 

and  reiterates  the  words,  "The  South  fired  the 
first  gun."  It  sounds  as  if  it  had  some  meaning  ; 
but  it  is  all  sound,  and  signifies  nothing.  "  Who 
was  the  aggressor  ?  Who  compelled  the  first  gun 
to  be  fired  ?  Who  imperilled  first  the  solemn 
compact  between  the  States  ? "  The  whole  ante- 
cedent history  will  fasten  the  blame  elsewhere. 
If  a  man  attacks  me  with  gun  in  hand,  and  I 
shoot  quicker  than  he  does,  it  is  true  that  I  fired 
first ;  but,  if  he  had  not  made  the  aggressive  move- 
ment, there  would  have  been  no  gun  fired  at  all. 
The  approach  of  the  fleet  to  re-enforce  Sumter 
ignited  the  match  that  fired  the  first  gun.  An- 
other illustration.  A  boy  puts  a  chip  on  his  head, 
and  dares  another  to  knock  it  off.  Instead  of 
knocking  the  chip,  suppose  he  knocks  the  head, 
which,  if  fighting  be  allowable,  is  the  wisest  pol- 
icy. After  the  fight,  the  boy  with  the  chip  can 
say  truly  that  the  other  hit  the  first  blow.  It  is 
true ;  but,  if  he  had  hit  the  chip  first,  he  would 
have  received  the  first  blow.  But,  when  men  are 
angry,  nothing  but  fight  will  cool  their  blood  ;  and 
fight  they  did,  most  lustily.  History  records  no 
more  gallant  struggle  under  more  gallant  leaders 
than  the  South  made.  The  issue  being  against 
us,  multitudes  changed  their  opinions,  and  said, 
"  They  must  have  been  striving  against  right,  or 
God  would  have  given  them  the  victory."  But 


36        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

such  reasoning  cannot  hold.  It  proves  too  much. 
Right,  in  the  end  and  long  future,  will  get  its  re- 
ward, but  in  ways  and  modes  of  God's  own  ordi- 
nation, and  not  after  man's  measurements  or 
upon  men's  small  balances,  which  are  not  equal  to 
judge  and  weigh  such  magnitudes  as  are  involved 
in  the  divine  plan  with  nations.  I  attempt  to 
rescue  a  child  that  has  fallen  into  the  sea.  I 
struggle  manfully  to  save  it,  but  I  am  drowned  in 
making  the  attempt.  It  does  not  follow  at  all 
that  I  did  wrong  in  making  the  effort  to  save  the 
child.  I  would  have  failed  much  in  duty  if  I  had 
not  made  the  effort.  This  is  very  plain,  when 
applied  to  a  small  and  familiar  matter.  It  is 
equally  true,  if  not  equally  plain,  in  the  greatest 
matters.  We  fail  to  see  it  in  great  matters,  be- 
cause we  cannot  see  far  enough,  and,  particularly, 
because  we  estimate  success  by  pitifully  small 
standards.  A  man  often  saves  his  whole  life  by 
losing  his  physical,  his  present,  life.  Life  must 
be  estimated,  not  only  by  its  extent,  but  by  its 
intent ;  not  only  by  its  length,  but  by  its  breadth 
and  depth.  He  who  gives  his  life  unselfishly  for 
another,  or  for  right  or  truth  or  honor,  in  the  true 
sense  of  that  word,  has  not  lost,  but  has  saved, 
his  life.  On  the  other  hand,  he  who  can  look  on, 
and  see  right  and  truth,  or  even  a  human  life, 
threatened  and  imperilled,  and  make  no  effort  to 


DOMESTIC  SLAVERY.  37 

help,  may,  in  a  sense,  have  saved  his  life ;  but  he 
has,  in  the  deepest  sense,  lost  it.  He  has  already 
lived  too  long  for  his  own  good.  This,  now,  my 
children,  is  an  illustration,  in  the  small,  of  great  and 
eternal  principles.  Never  measure  duty  or  right 
by  worldly  and  utilitarian  standards.  Some  day, 
I  hope,  you  will  rejoice  if  you  shall  have  to  give 
your  life  a  sacrifice  to  duty  and  truth.  The  life 
of  our  dear  Lord  was  a  great  failure,  tried  by  the 
worldly  standards  of  His  day.  But  where  was 
there  ever  such  a  life,  even  upon  principles  of 
utility,  when  viewed  in  the  large  ?  When  I  think 
of  the  pure  and  noble-minded  men  who  died  on 
fields  of  battle  for  the  South  (and  I  withhold  not 
my  meed  of  recognition  of  like-minded  men  who 
were  ranged  on  the  other  side),  —  men  whom  I 
knew  and  loved  —  Christian  men,  who  gave  them- 
selves, life,  and  all,  for  what  they  deemed  to  be 
duty,  —  I  cannot  hope  for  any  better  portion  than 
to  be  permitted  to  range  myself  by  their  side  "on 
the  other  banks  of  the  river." 

DOMESTIC  SLAVERY. 

Now,  a  word  about  another  matter  that  I  briefly 
touched  in  a  former  page,  —  Domestic  Slavery! 
It  was  the  occasion  of  the  war  in  a  certain  way, 
and  it  was  done  away  with  as  one  of  the  results  of 
the  war.  The  time  will  probably  come  when  my 


38        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

descendants  will  look  back,  and  wonder  how  their 
grandfathers  could  have  held  human  beings  in 
bondage.1  I  am  concerned  that  they  who  come 
after  me  shall  have  some  idea  of  the  institution 
of  slavery  as  it  existed  in  Virginia ;  for  I  was 
more  conversant  with  its  character  as  displayed 
in  the  older  States,  where  it  was  more  patri- 
archal, less  profitable,  and  in  all  respects  milder, 
than  in  the  South-western  States,  where  absen- 

1  If  it  shall  be  regarded  as  an  unpardonable  offence  to  have  held 
human  beings  in  bondage,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  an  offence 
shared  originally  by  all  the  United  States. 

There  lies  before  me,  as  I  write,  a  little  newspaper  (about  eight 
by  twelve  inches  in  size)  entitled 

"THE  NEW  ENGLAND  WEEKLY  JOURNAL." 
"  MONDAY,  April  8th,  1728." 

In  the  column  of  advertisements  of  sermons,  tracts,  etc.,  I  see  the 
following :  — 

"  EklF™  A  very  likely  Negro  Woman,  who  can  do  Household  work,  and 
is  fit  Either  for  Town  or  Country  Service,  about  22  Years  of  Age,  to 
be  sold.  Inquire  of  the  Printer  hereof." 

"KSP"  A  Very  Likely  Negro  Girl,  about  13  or  14  Years  of  Age, 
speaks  good  English,  has  been  in  the  Country  some  Years,  to  be  sold. 
Inquire  of  the  Printer  hereof." 

(Spelling  and  capitalization  as  in  the  paper.) 

I  have  inserted  the  foregoing  advertisements  with  the  hope  that  they 
may  serve  as  "  conductors  "  to  convey  some  of  the  lightning  wrath  of  our 
Northern  unfriends  quietly  and  harmlessly  to  the  ground.  The  Southern 
States  would  never  have  received  cargoes  of  slaves  but  for  Northern  ves- 
sels, and  Northern  people  kept  them  in  bondage  as  long  as  it  was  profit- 
able so  to  keep  them.  The  philanthropy  which  sweeps  away  at  a  breath 
the  wealth  of  other  people,  involves  a  very  easy  and  cheap  humanity. 


DOMESTIC  SLAVERY.  39 

teeism,  that  curse  to  the  laborer,  was  more 
common.  If  you  will  read  the  allegations  from 
the  Northern  side,  and  at  all  believe  them  as 
truly  descriptive  of  slavery  as  it  existed  in  the 
large,  you  will  believe  —  to  draw  it  mildly  —  a 
very  large  lie.  That  there  were  cases  of  oppres- 
sion and  violence  and  grievous  wrong,  is  not  to 
be  doubted ;  for  some  men,  in  all  countries  and 
all  ages,  will  be  violent  and  oppressive  —  even  to 
their  wives  and  children.  But  because  there 
have  been  cases  where  slaveholders  have  inflicted 
cruelty  and  wrong  upon  their  slaves,  it  no  more 
proves  that  cruelty  was  the  characteristic  of  slave- 
holders, than  it  proves  that  men  in  the  Northern 
States  habitually  maltreat  their  families,  because, 
every  now  and  then,  some  brute  kicks  to  death 
a  wife  or  child.  People  will  be  to  their  families — 
to  their  wives,  children,  and  servants — what  they 
are  themselves.  If  kind  and  just  in  character, 
they  will  be  just  and  kind  to  all  around  them. 
Then,  superadd  to  this  consideration  the  fact  that 
men  in  the  large  consult  their  interests,  and  that 
it  was  greatly  to  their  interest  to  treat  their 
slaves  well,  and  you  have,  besides  the  charac- 
ter of  the  owner,  his  clearest  interest  to  treat 
well  all  his  dependants.  Slavery  —  like  matri- 
mony from  the  husband — takes  its  character  from 
the  master.  If  he  be  just  and  kind,  his  rule  will 


4O        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

partake  of  those  characteristics.  So  with  the 
father  in  his  family,  etc.  As  an  illustration  of  a 
certain  class  of  Northern  ideas  on  this  subject, 

—  shortly  after  the  war,  I  met  with  an  honest- 
hearted  man  from  the  North.     We  fell,  naturally, 
into    conversation    on    the    subject    of    domestic 
slavery.     He  asked  me,  "Is  it  true  that   in  the 
South  you  were  accustomed  to  hitch  your  negroes 
to  the  plough,  and  drive  them  ? "     He  asked  the 
question  seriously.      I  asked  him,   "How   many 
negroes  would  it  take  to  draw  a  plough  to  any 
purpose  ? "  —  "  Eight  or  ten,  I  calculate,"  said  he. 
"  Well,"  said  I,   "  how  much  is  a  mule  worth  ? " 

—  "  One  hundred  dollars,"  said  he.     "  How  much 
was  a  negro?"  —  "One  thousand  dollars,"  said  he. 
"Well,"  said  I,  "do  you  think  —  to  say  nothing 
of  our  kind  feelings  towards  our  negroes  —  that 
we  had  no  more  sense  than  to  use  ten  negroes, 
which  were  worth  ten  thousand  dollars,  to  do  a 
work  which  a  mule,  costing  one  hundred  dollars, 
would  do  better?"  —  "Why,"  said  he,  "I  never 
thought  of  that."  — "Of   course   you   didn't,"    I 
said  :  "  there  are  many  things  of  which  you  never 
thought  on  the  same  subject."     The  above  is  a 
pretty  fair  specimen  of  the  notions  of  some  igno- 
rant and   fanatical   minds,  many  of   which  were 
wider  still  from  the  truth. 


"  UNCLE    TOM'S  CABIN."  41 

"UNCLE  TOM'S  CABIN." 

THERE  was  a  book,  written  by  Mrs.  Stowe,  — 
a  sister  of  the  celebrated  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  — 
which  had  an  immense  circulation,  and  exerted 
a  powerful  influence.  It  was  a  work  of  fiction, 
entitled  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  It  was  written 
with  considerable  ability,  and  was,  in  some  re- 
spects, a  most  attractive  and  thrilling  narrative. 
It  collected  together  many  incidents  illustrative 
of  the  cruelty  with  which  slaves  were  said  to  be 
treated  in  the  South.  They  may  have  been  true, 
or  not  true.  You  can  find  similar  incidents  in  all 
the  relations  of  life,  in  all  ages,  and  among  all 
people.  Yet  —  strange  to  say — the  book,  if  care- 
fully analyzed,  speaks  volumes  in  favor  of  that 
which  it  was  written  to  condemn.  It  was,  essen- 
tially, a  specimen  of  feminine  logic.  But  let  me 
explain.  Shortly  after  the  war  I  was  in  New 
York,  and  met  with  an  old  acquaintance.  The 
conversation  turned  upon  domestic  slavery.  I 
asked  him  how  it  was  that  the  Northern  mind 
had  become  so  thoroughly  abolitionized  ;  telling 
him,  that  when  I  was  a  youth,  pursuing  my  studies 
at  old  Yale,  the  abolitionists  were  few  in  number, 
and  not  of  much  social  standing.  He  replied, 
that,  in  his  judgment,  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  — 
the  book  above  referred  to  —  had  as  much  to  do 


42        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

with  the  growth  of  a  bitter  feeling  against  slavery 
as  any  other  agency,  and  asked  me  if  I  had  ever 
read  the  book.  "  Of  course  I  have,"  said  I : 
"  we  all  read  it,  and  in  some  respects  admire  it  — 
chiefly,  its  power  as  a  work  of  fiction.  If  it  pre- 
tends to  describe  slavery  as  it  generally  existed, 
it  is  pretty  much  a  work  of  falsehood."  "But 
yet,"  I  continued  to  say,  "very  few  have  ever 
pondered  that  book,  and  extracted  its  truest  and 
deepest  meaning."  —  "As  how?"  said  he.  "In 
this  way,"  I  answered.  "Tell  me  who  was  the 
most  striking  character  in  that  book  for  honesty, 
fidelity,  and  piety  ?  "  —  "  Why,  '  Uncle  Tom,'  of 
course,"  he  said,  —  "one  of  the  finest  characters 
I  ever  read  of!"  —  "Yes,"  I  said,  "he  was;  but 
who  was  Uncle  Tom  ?  Was  he  not  a  slave  ?  and 
does  not  the  book  go  to  show,  that,  if  you  want 
to  find  the  best  specimen  of  honesty  and  piety 
among  servants,  you  must  seek  him  among  the 
slaves  ?  Africa  did  not  produce  him,  does  not  now 
produce  him.  We  think  that  domestic  slavery 
tended  to  the  production  of  just  such  a  charac- 
ter ;  fostering  the  instinct  of  obedience,  from 
which  spring  reverence  and  faith.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  I  can  say  this  much  without  contradiction, 
—  that,  according  to  Mrs.  Stowe's  book,  slavery  is 
not  incompatible  with  the  highest  development  of 
honesty  and  piety  in  the  slave."  He  pondered  my 


"UNCLE   TOM'S  CABIN."  43 

remark  for  a  moment,  and  said,  "  Of  course,  I  must 
admit  that  much  :  it  is  so  written  in  the  book." 

—  "Well,  again,"    said   I,    "who  was   the   most 
attractive  character  in  the  book  ? "  —  "  Eva,"  he 
said,  "one  of  the  most  lovely  of  her  sex,  gentle 
and   refined,  —  a   beautiful  character  indeed."  — 
"  Who  was  Eva  ?  was  she  not  a  slaveholder  ?  "  — 
"Yes,  she  was."  —  "Then,"  I  replied,  "in  so  far 
forth  as  that  book  is  concerned,  if  you  want  to 
find  a  specimen  of  a  peculiarly  gentle  and  refined 
young  woman  "  (Eva  was  the  young  lady  of  the 
house  in  which  Uncle  Tom  served),   "you  must 
seek  for  her  among  slaveholders.     We  have  an 
idea  that  the  relation  between  those  two  parties 

—  the   young   mistress   and    the    old    servant  — 
tended  naturally  to  the  production  of  the  qualities 
described  in  them  both.     At  any  rate,  you  must 
admit,  that,  according  to  Mrs.  Stowe,  refinement 
in  the  woman  is  not  incompatible  with  the  posi- 
tion of  ownership  in  slaves."  —  "Yes,"  he  said, 
"  I  cannot  but  admit  that  much :  it  is  so  set  down 
in  Mrs.  Stowe's  book."  —  "And  now,  once  more," 
I  continued,  "  who  was  the  worst  character  in  the 
book  ?  "  —  "  Why,    Legree,"    he   answered,  —  "a 
vile  and  cruel  man."  —  "Who  was  Legree?  was  he 
not  a  Northern  man  who  came  South,  trafficked 
in  slaves,  and  maltreated  them?" — "That  is  all 
so,"  he  answered.      I  then  wound  up  the  conver- 


44        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

sation  by  saying  to  my  friend,  "Then,  the  gist 
of  the  book  is  this :  if  you  want  a  good,  honest, 
and  religious  servant,  seek  him  among  the  slaves 
—  find  an  Uncle  Tom ;  if  you  want  to  see  a 
glorious  specimen  of  womanly  loveliness,  seek  her 
among  the  slaveholders — find  an  Eva:  and  keep 
every  Down-Easter  from  having  any  power  over 
the  poor  creatures.  Mrs.  Stowe's  book  must  be 
held  responsible  for  this  conclusion."  A  profound 
silence  ensued,  and  a  profound  silence  should 
reign  for  a  while  among  the  chatterers  on  this 
subject.  For  all  that  was  beautiful  in  that  con- 
dition of  society  has  passed  away.  And  there 
was  something  beautiful  in  the  relation  between 
the  parties  —  especially  in  the  care  taken  of  the 
young  and  the  old.  Beautiful  and  just  and  benig- 
nant was  the  patriarchal  condition  of  slavery  in 
the  "Old  Dominion."  All  gone,  or  going  —  the 
honest  and  loving-hearted  Uncle  Tom,  the  lovable 
Eva;  fast  going  —  the  faithful  old  mammy,  the 
decent  and  comely  maid-servant,  reverence,  obedi- 
ence, faithful  service,  and  Uncle  Tom  piety  — 
all  vanishing  into  space ;  and  what  have  we  in- 
stead ?  Conflicts  of  races,  animosity  and  distrust, 
jealousy  of  capital,  suffrage  without  sense,  reli- 
gion without  morals,  service  without  reverence  — 
Gog  and  Magog  —  the  old  war  between  oppres- 
sive capital  and  discontented  labor  —  he  that  runs 


"UNCLE   TOM'S  CAB  IK."  45 

may  read  !  I  say  this,  without  fear  of  just  contra- 
diction, that  slavery,  as  it  existed  in  my  time,  in 
the  State  of  Virginia,  —  I  say  Virginia,  for  I  was 
born  and  reared  in  that  State,  —  presented  the 
justest  and  fairest  condition  of  society  that  I 
have  ever  seen  or  read  of.  The  same  was  true, 
I  doubt  not,  in  other  Southern  States.  Compare 
the  condition  of  the  slave  laborer  with  that  of  any 
class  of  people  in  similar  employment  in  other 
lands.  Read  of  the  condition  of  the  manufacturing 
and  laboring  classes  anywhere.  The  condition  of 
the  slave  in  the  Old  Dominion  showed  a  larger 
remuneration  for  labor,  and  a  kinder  treatment, 
with  a  comfortable  provision  for  old  age.  Alas  ! 
poor  old  black  man  now  !  I  think  I  can  say,  with 
entire  truth,  that  the  large  majority  of  slaves  at 
Christmas'  Eve  were  well  housed,  well  fed,  well 
clothed,  with  something  extra  in  the  pocket. 
There  were  exceptions,  of  course,  but  inapprecia- 
ble in  a  large  view.  Where  is  the  parallel,  in  any 
country,  among  white  laborers  of  same  condition  ? 
But  when  the  issues  of  the  war  emancipated 
the  black,  and  Republicanism  clothed  him  with 
the  rights  of  American  citizenship,  including  that 
of  suffrage,  the  South  handed  over  to  the  coun- 
try millions  of  people  of  African  descent,  pre- 
pared, in  the  judgment  of  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  this  country,  to  exercise  the  duties 


46        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  said  citizenship. 
These  were  the  "  down-trodden  slaves,"  so-called  ! 
What  Christian  mission  has  ever  accomplished 
the  same  result  on  the  coast  of  Africa?  How 
is  it  with  the  Indians  ?  If  there  be  any  truth 
in  the  coming  histories  of  this  country,  such 
facts  as  these  will  not  long  be  silent,  but  will 
speak  in  tones  most  eloquent  of  the  benignant 
and  civilizing  power  of  domestic  slavery.  My 
heart  warms  even  now  as  I  recall  the  past,  and 
there  come  up  befpre  me  the  memories  of  my 
childhood  and  early  manhood ;  of  the  dear  old 
mammy  who  took  me  into  her  arms,  and  made  me 
sit  in  her  lap,  and  eat  of  the  buttermilk  and  the 
ash  cake  with  apples  in  it,  which  with  loving 
hands  she  had  made  ready  for  her  "young  master  " 
when  he  came  back  from  college.  You,  my  chil- 
dren, who  shall  spend  your  lives  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  shall  take  part  in  the  effort  to  adjust 
the  social  and  domestic  life  to  this  new  order  of 
things,  will  some  day,  I  fear,  be  forced  to  appre- 
ciate what  I  have  said  of  the  past,  and  anticipate 
for  the  future.  As  yet,  while  I  write  these  lines, 
we  have  some  few  of  the  old  folks  left.  They 
have  all  of  our  love  and  respect.  These  have  not 
yet  learned  to  look  distrustfully  upon  the  friends 
of  their  childhood.  Fond  memories  still  bind 
them  to  their  white  friends.  As  to  the  young  fry, 


"UNCLE    TOM'S  CABIN."  47 

who  are  not  taught  reverence  and  subordination, 
what  is  their  destiny  ?  I  shudder  to  think  of  it. 
I  hope  that  I  may  be  mistaken.  God  knows  that 
I  am  doing  all  in  my  power  to  avert  the  impend- 
ing danger.  But  what  can  you  hope  for  in  the 
large,  from  a  people,  who,  by  their  own  confes- 
sion, know  little  of  the  virtues  of  chastity  and 
honesty  ?  Would  they  come  under  the  influence 
of  a  religion  which  makes  "things  which  are 
true,"  "things  which  are  honest,"  "things  which 
are  just,"  the  foundation  of  their  religious  charac- 
ter, then  we  might  hope  to  see  a  superstructure 
of  "  those  things  which  are  lovely  and  of  good 
report." 

But,  alas!  thrown  off  to  themselves, — espe- 
cially in  our  rural  districts,  where  they  outnumber 
the  whites,  —  their  religion  oft  becomes  a  cari- 
cature, not  far  short  of  the  Fetichism  of  their 
native  Africa. 

The  Church  could  help  them,  and  is  now  put- 
ting forth  more  energy  on  their  behalf;  but 
alas !  they  cling  to  their  own  devices,  and  will 
have  none  of  her  ways. 

We  read  and  hear  —  usque  ad  nauseam  —  of 
the  brutalizing  and  debasing  effect  of  slavery  upon 
the  character  of  this  people.  All  their  degrada- 
tion is  referred  to  this  relationship.  Orators  and 
pamphleteers  expatiate  upon  the  theme,  until 


48        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

some  people  actually  begin  to  believe  there  is 
something  in  it.  But  whence,  and  when,  and 
through  what  period  of  time,  came  their  present 
comparative  advancement  ?  It  was  not  in  Africa, 
nor  from  Africa,  that  the  influence  came  which 
elevated  him  from  the  savage  state.  The  white 
man  goes  to  Africa,  and  has  to  write  out  a 
language  for  the  natives.  As  a  people,  they 
have  little  inventive  power.  They  seem  to  make 
slow,  if  any,  advancement  in  their  native  land. 
Even  under  civilizing  influences  in  their  own 
country,  they  develop  slowly  and  doubtfully.  Yet, 
under  the  auspices  of  servitude  in  the  Southern 
States,  millions  have  been  raised  to  American 
citizenship,  which  is  denied  to  the  ever-free  Indian. 
If  they  were  not  fitted  for  it,  what  a  shame  to 
have  given  them  power  to  dominate  the  white 
race,  as  they  did  in  some  localities  !  If  they  were 
so  fitted,  what  a  tribute  to  the  elevating  influences 
of  Southern  slavery! 

And  their  citizenship  was  accomplished  by  a 
vote  of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States ! 

I  say  nothing  in  vindication  of  slavery  in  its 
origin.  It  was  a  foul  wrong,  shared  alike  by 
North  and  South,  and  to  be  repented  of  by  both 
sections  with  works  meet  for  repentance.  It  was 
a  foul  wrong  to  sell  Joseph  into  Egypt,  and  after- 


THE   CHURCH  QUESTION.  49 

wards  to  enslave  his  descendants  there.  Yet  out 
of  this  wrong  the  wonder-working  providence  of 
God  wrought  good  unto  Israel.  So  may  it  be  in 
the  case  of  Africa  in  America !  I  say  nothing 
regretfully  of  the  fact  —  not  the  manner  —  of  the 
negro's  emancipation.  I  am  doing,  as  I  have  always 
done,  all  in  my  power  to  help  him  in  every  man- 
ner. I  am  alike  a  debtor  to  the  bond  and  the 
free.  But  I  do  maintain,  and  that  without  fear  of 
reasonable  contradiction,  that  the  negro's  present 
civilized  condition  and  capability  is  due  to  this 
cause,  —  that  he  was  brought  closely  into  relations 
with  the  white  men  —  and  the  best  white  men  — 
in  his  state  of  servitude.  The  closer  the  relation, 
—  as  in  the  family, — the  more  marked  the  ad- 
vancement !  Here  is  a  fact  which  should  be 
deeply  pondered  by  those  who  love  and  seek  the 
truth ;  viz.,  that  the  slaveholding  population  of 
the  Southern  States  were,  for  the  most  part,  men 
of  standing  and  culture,  imbued  oftentimes  with 
a  chivalry  of  spirit  which  forbade  unkindness  to 
the  slave  who  lived  under  his  roof,  who  ate  of 
his  bread,  and  hearkened  unto  his  voice.  A  true 
Southern  man  will  not  be  unjust  to  his  dog. 

THE  CHURCH   QUESTION. 

BUT   I  have  to  jot  down  some  thoughts  upon 
higher  and   more   enduring   themes..    The   king- 


50        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

doms  of  men  come  to  an  end :  vast  empires,  that 
once  swayed  the  destinies  of  the  world,  are  known 
only  on  the  pages  of  history.  They  rise,  fall,  and 
utterly  come  to. naught.  They  are  of  the  things 
of  time,  and  perish  with  time.  You,  my  children, 
will  have  a  high  duty  to  perform  in  being  good 
citizens,  in  upholding  law  and  the  administration 
of  law.  It  is  a  part  of  one's  religion,  as  well  as 
loyalty,  to  be  law-abiding  citizens.  Our  country, 
now  peaceful  after  a  bloody  war,  may  continue  so 
for  years ;  but  there  are  existing  elements  of  con- 
flict which  will  become  explosive  whenever  the 
population  becomes  dense  enough  for  ignition. 
The  Old  World  is  pouring  in  its  tide  of  popula- 
tion—  peoples  of  all  religions  and  no  religions  — 
all  jumbled  in  a  mighty  mass.  What  will  come  of 
it  all,  who  can  tell  ?  One  thing  seems  most  cer- 
tain, —  that  human  affairs  move  forward,  and  not 
backward.  The  state  of  the  world,  at  this  writ- 
ing, is  doubtless  better,  on  the  whole,  than  at  any 
former  period  of  time,  and  there  is  no  good  reason 
for  supposing  that  it  will  take  a  retrograde  move- 
ment. You  will  have  to  adjust  yourselves  to  the 
era  in  which  you  live,  keeping  a  true  manhood, 
whatever  the  issue.  That  will  bring  a  man  peace 
at  the  last :  that  makes  the  man. 

But  I  must  pass  to  the  consideration  of  God's 
Kingdom  —  the  Church  of  God.     "  Of  that  king- 


THE   CHURCH  QUESTION.  5  I 

dom"  —  as  you  have  been  taught  to  rehearse  in 
the  Nicene  Creed,  —  "there  shall  be  no  end!" 
My  great  desire  is  that  my  children  should  have 
an  inheritance  in  that  Kingdom,  and  ever  be 
associated  with  it  as  I  and  my  fathers  were.  The 
whole  matter,  as  you  may  easily  suppose,  has 
been  my  lifelong  study,  and  I  want  you  to  have 
the  benefit  of  my  thoughts  and  conclusions  there- 
upon. You  will  find  the  religious  world  much 
divided.  I  cannot  speak  of  all  the  existing  organi- 
zations,—  for  their  name  is  Legion,  —  but  I  desire 
to  put  before  you  in  a  general  way  the  attitude  of 
that  branch  of  the  Church  in  which  I  have  been 
reared,  and  of  which  you  have  been  made  members 
by  baptism  —  the  attitude,  I  say,  of  this  Church 
towards  the  rest  of  Christendom.  Its  name  is 
"The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  and  it  may 
be  interesting  to  you  to  learn  that  this  appellation 
was  suggested  by  one  of  your  ancestors.  The 
name  is  not  a  felicitous  one,  but  has  a  noble  record 
and  a  roll  of  great  men.  This  Church,  as  all  your 
reading  will  show,  is  an  offshoot  of  the  Established 
Church  in  England,  deriving  its  orders  from  that 
Church,  also  its  Liturgy  and  usages.  We  must 
go  a  little  back  to  inquire  into  the  history  of  the 
Mother  Church,  before  proceeding  to  outline  the 
particular  relation  of  her  daughter  to  the  religious 
world  around  it  in  this  country. 


52        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND. 

THE  Church  of  Christ  was  planted  in  England 
at  a  very  early  day  —  most  probably  by  one  of  the 
apostles  of  our  Lord.  This  you  will  find  in  any 
early  history  of  the  English  Church.  Represen- 
tatives from  the  British  Church  were  present  at 
the  councils  of  the  Church  at  a  very  early  day 
(A.D.  325),  long  before  the  unhappy  division  took 
place  which  separated  the  Eastern  from  the 
Western  Church. 

Rome,  being  the  controlling  power  of  the  world 
for  a  long  period  of  time,  became,  naturally,  the 
centre  of  other  influences,  religious  as  well  as 
political.  The  bishop  of  Rome,  sustained  by  the 
civil  and  military  power,  had  no  great  difficulty  in 
obtaining  ultimate  recognition  as  the  supreme 
ecclesiastical  power  in  the  west  of  Europe.  Eng- 
land held  out  against  her  jurisdiction  as  long  as 
possible,  but  finally  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  the  bishop  of  Rome  in  things  spiritual.  Au- 
gustine, a  missionary  under  Rome,  went  to  Eng- 
land, and  found  the  southern  part  of  the  king- 
dom—  inhabited  by  the  Saxon  race  —  without  the 
Christian  faith.  The  British  Church  already  ex- 
isted when  he  put  his  foot  on  the  coast  of  England. 
Little  by  little,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  Church 
in  England  came  under  the  domination  of  the 


CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND,  53 

Pope.  It  went  sorely  against  the  spirit  and  tem- 
per of  our  English  forefathers  to  acknowledge 
fealty  to  any  foreign  power,  civil  or  ecclesiastical. 
They  fought  against  it  as  long  as  possible,  but 
had  at  last  to  yield.  It  was  this  spirit  of  jealousy 
against  the  intrusion  of  a  foreign  power,  which 
made  it  so  easy  at  a  subsequent  period  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  which  was  to  so  many,  even  Roman- 
ists in  doctrinal  matters,  a  galling  servitude.  But 
a  new  era  dawned.  Books  became  multiplied,  and 
knowledge  was  more  generally  diffused.  The 
"  Great  Reformation  "  took  place. 

I  must  say  a  word  about  that  great  movement, 
of  which  all  history  of  that  age  is  so  full.  Henry 
VIII.,  the  king  of  England  at  the  time,  was  far 
from  being  a  pattern  of  good  morals.  He  was  im- 
perious and  lustful.  A  decision  of  the  reigning 
Pope  of  Rome  crossed  his  purposes,  and  Henry 
asserted  —  as  he  had  the  right  to  do  —  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Church  in  England.  The  claim 
of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  to  exercise  jurisdiction  in 
England,  had  no  divine,  but  simply  a  human,  sanc- 
tion. The  yoke,  therefore,  was  thrown  off  —  as  it 
had  been  put  on  —  by  human  hands.  It  was  a 
right  and  lawful  thing  done,  although  done  by 
a  bad  man.  This  often  happens.  The  wrath  and 
the  lust  of  men  are  often  overruled  to  work  out 
most  gracious  purposes.  We  are  often  twitted  with 


54        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

the  taunt  that  Henry  VIII.  was  the  founder  of  the 
English  Church ;  whilst  the  fact  is,  that  it  existed 
centuries  before  Henry's  day,  and  has  existed 
centuries  since.  The  same  bishops  exercised 
jurisdiction  in  England  before  and  after  the  Ref- 
ormation. There  was  no  break  in  the  line  of 
Bishops  whatever.  The  Church  in  England  did 
not  cease  to  be  catholic  because  she  then  cast 
off  many  uncatholic  doctrines  and  usages  which 
had  become  incrusted  upon  her.  Henry  VIII. 
was  ever  a  Roman  Catholic  in  heart  and  doctrine. 
No  prevailing  doctrine  was  changed  or  modified 
during  his  reign.  In  fact,  he  won  his  title  of 
"  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  for  fighting  Reformed 
Doctrines.  God  made  use  of  his  imperiousness 
and  impatience  of  will  to  throw  off  a  foreign  yoke, 
which  had  been  wrongly  imposed  and  reluctantly 
worn  by  the  great  mass  of  English  people.  This 
emancipation  set  free  the  minds  of  men,  and 
Henry's  successors  to  the  throne  favored  the 
mighty  change  which  was  being  wrought  in  the 
religious  mind  ;  and  thus  it  was,  by  little  and  little, 
as  light  and  knowledge  were  vouchsafed,  that  the 
Church  in  England  came  out  of  the  wilderness  of 
superstition,  cleansed  from  many  corruptions,  and 
stood  forth,  and  now  stands  forth,  the  zealous 
maintainer  of  the  Faith  and  Discipline  "once  de- 
livered to  the  saints."  Wherever  her  influence 


CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  55 

extends,  light  and  knowledge  are  diffused,  peoples 
are  elevated,  freedom  is  proclaimed,  law  is  admin- 
istered, and  righteousness  prevails.  Take  the  map 
of  the  world.  Look  at  the  nations  under  Romish 
rule  —  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  France,  Ireland,  and 
Mexico.  What  keeps  these  people  in  the  back- 
ground ?  What  makes  the  difference  in  Ireland 
between  Romanists  and  Protestants  ?  Spain  was 
ahead  of  England  at  the  era  of  the  Reformation. 
Englishmen  studied  in  her  schools  of  learning. 
But  Spain  extinguished  the  dawning  light  of  the 
Reformation  in  the  lurid  glare  of  the  Inquisition, 
and  Spain  has  decayed  from  that  day.  The  spirit 
of  the  Roman  Church  is  calculated  to  undervalue 
the  exercise  of  reason,  and  to  arrest  the  spirit  of 
inquiry,  which  has  so  stimulated  scientific  investi- 
gation, and  made  this  age  so  fruitful  in  knowledge. 
Of  course,  this  spirit  may  be  carried  too  far,  and 
may  lead  to  mere  rationalism.  But  what  may  not 
be  carried  too  far  ?  You  cannot  fertilize  a  spot  of 
land  without  stimulating  the  growth  of  weeds, 
but  you  also  cannot  make  the  best  kind  of  grain 
without  fertilization.  So,  of  the  printing-press  — 
it  brings  many  bad  thoughts  to  the  mind,  but  it 
also  brings  the  best  thoughts  out.  It  is  a  bad 
sign  when  any  system  or  man  avoids  the  light. 
"  Let  there  be  light,"  was  the  herald-cry  in  chaos, 
and  chaos  departed  when  the  light  came.  The 


56        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

best  test  of  the  truth  of  any  system,  when  you 
can  make  a  large  enough  induction,  is  that  fur- 
nished by  our  Lord,  —  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them."  As  a  church  influencing  laws,  liter- 
ature, and  morals,  we  do  not  fear  to  challenge 
Christendom.  England  is  what  she  is,  mainly 
through  the  Church  in  England  ;  and,  to  this  hour, 
she  exerts  a  more  enlightening  and  benignant  in- 
fluence upon  the  world  than  any  other  Nation. 
It  will  not  do  to  turn  from  a  large  survey  of  her 
influence,  and  taunt  her  with  being  reformed  by 
such  a  man  as  Henry  VIII.  She  was  deformed 
by  that  monarch.  He  was  the  foul  spot  that  dis- 
figured that  era  ;  but,  as  the  rust,  he  ate  away  the 
chain  that  bound  the  Church  to  the  court  of 
Rome,  and  let  her  go  free  for  her  glorious  mission 
of  evangelization  and  civilization  to  the  remotest 
islands  of  the  sea.  Flings  at  Henry,  and  twittings 
about  his  part  in  the  Reformation,  come  with  a 
bad  grace  from  the  Roman  Church,  which*  has 
preferred  men  to  honor  and  to  the  highest  places 
in  her  gift,  —  even  the  so-called  chair  of  St.  Peter 
(when  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  holy  apostle  ever 
sat  in  it),  —  men,  I  say,  in  comparison  with  whom 
Henry  might  be  canonized  as  a  saint.  Read  any 
history  of  the  Popes  (e.g.,  Ranke),  and  you  will 
return  to  the  pages  of  Henry's  life  with  a  sense 
of  relief,  bad  as  that  life  was.  When  you  sum 


CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.  $? 

up  all  that  the  Church  of  England  has  done, 
in  literature,  in  science,  in  learning,  in  works  of 
beneficence,  in  sacredly  preserving  the  word  of 
God,  in  translating  it  for  the  peoples  of  the  world, 
in  disseminating  the  righteous  principles  of  law 
and  equity,  in  diffusing  a  spirit  of  freedom,  and, 
with  it,  the  needful  checks  and  balances  of  gov- 
ernment, we  may  well  thank  God  for  our  English 
blood  and  traditions,  and  cherish  them  all  as  the 
priceless  inheritance  from  our  fathers,  and  at  the 
same  time,  next  to  that  imposed  by  the  knowledge 
of  salvation,  the  weightiest  responsibility  that  rests 
upon  us. 

CHURCH  IN  AMERICA. 

LET  us  come  down  a  little  in  our  review  to  the 
planting  of  the  American  colonies :  chiefly  from 
Great  Britain  they  were  planted.  We  see  some- 
times a  spirit  of  rivalry  and  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  some  American  people  towards  the  mother 
country,  —  a  sentiment  always  unwholesome  and 
ungracious,  but  peculiarly  so  when  directed 
against  our  motherland.  Our  ancestors  found 
nothing  precious  on  these  shores,  save  the  land 
and  the  riches  beneath  it.  That  was  a  divine 
gift,  and  demands  unspeakable  gratitude.  What 
else  did  they  find  ?  They  brought  with  them 
their  blood,  lineage,  language,  laws,  literature,  and 
thousand-fold  traditions,  all  of  which  moulded 


58        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

for  them  the  new  life  and  institutions  in  their 
newly  found  country.  The  wigwam  of  the  Indian 
did  not  furnish  forth  the  equipment  with  which 
our  forefathers  began  the  battle  of  life  on  the 
American  continent.  The  principles  of  liberty 
and  the  knowledge  of  religion  were  not  found  here, 
but  were  brought  here.  The  battle  which  settled 
the  rights  of  men  was  fought  on  British  soil,  and 
won  by  our  British  ancestors.  The  particular 
form  of  government  established  here,  after  inde- 
pendence was  secured,  was  the  outgrowth  of  cir- 
cumstances in  large  part ;  but  the  foundations 
and  principles  of  our  government  were  laid  by 
statesmen  who  had  drank  deep  at  English  foun- 
tains, and  were  trained  in  the  traditions  of  Eng- 
lish sires.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  by  my 
children,  that  the  sons  of  Englishmen  and  of  Eng- 
lish churchmen  were  the  great  men — the  giants 
—  who  fought  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  American  Republic. 
Time  would  fail  me  to'  enumerate  them.  Glance 
at  the  names  of  a  few  in  the  honored  list, — 
Washington,  Hamilton,  Madison,  Marshall,  and  a 
host  of  others  — "dam  et  vcncrabilia  nominal  So 
it  was  in  the  unsuccessful  conflict  for  Southern 
independence,  —  Davis,  Lee,  Johnston  (Joseph  E. 
and  Albert  Sidney),  and  an  innumerable  host  of 
greater  or  lesser  lights.  Nor  is  this  at  all  acci- 


CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.  59 

dental.  It  comes  by  operation  of  a  law,  —  the 
law  of  elective  affinity.  There  is  something  of 
combined  grandeur  and  simplicity  in  the  spirit 
and  services  of  the  Church,  which  irresistibly,  and 
oft  unconsciously,  draws  to  it  such  men  (not 
raised  in  the  Church)  as  Clay  and  Webster,  for 
example.  Besides,  the  training  in  the  Church 
tends  to  the  production  of  such  men.  The  great 
men  among  the  Methodists  (such  as  Wesley  and 
Whitefield,  etc.)  had  Church  mothers,  and  were 
early  taught  in  the  Church  catechism,  and  baptized, 
confirmed,  educated,  and  ordained  in  the  Church. 

HOW  THE  CHURCH  WAS  PLANTED  IN  AMERICA. 
THE  Church  of  England  clergy  (there  being  at 
that  time  no  Bishops  this  side  of  the  water)  were 
ordained  in  England,  and  were  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  English  Church  until  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  war.  You  will  find  a  full  account 
of  the  whole  matter  in  "  Bishop  White's  (the  first 
bishop  of  Pennsylvania)  Memoirs."  Bishop  Sea- 
bury  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Connecticut  by 
the  bishops  of  the  Church  in  Scotland.  Bishop 
White  of  Pennsylvania,  Madison  of  Virginia,  and 
Provoost  of  New  York,  were  consecrated  by  the 
bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  (the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  acting  as  consecrator  in  his 
chapel  at  Lambeth).  Thus  the  Apostolic  succes- 


60        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

sion  was  derived  by  this  Church.  Dioceses  have 
sprung  up  through  the  whole  land.  Several  of 
the  States  each  comprehend  at  this  writing,  two 
or  more  Dioceses,  the  State  of  New  York  at  this 
time  five. 

It  is  often  asked,  "  How  is  it  that  this  Church, 
claiming,  as  it  does,  the  elements  of  a  pure 
catholicity,  should  have  failed  to  have  gotten  a 
stronger  hold  upon  the  great  body  of  the  people 
in  this  country  ?  "  The  question  is  an  important 
one,  and  demands  a  fuller  answer  than  these 
"  Reminiscences  "  seem  to  call  for.  If  the  failure 
referred  to  were  the  result  of  any  want  of  adapta- 
tion on  the  part  of  this  Church  to  meet -the  needs 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  it  were  a  fatal 
defect.  But  it  is  not  so.  In  the  mother  country, 
the  poor  equally  with  the  rich  meet  at  her  altars. 
In  the  rural  districts,  prince  and  peasant  receive 
together  her  teachings,  and  unite  in  her  liturgy. 
The  manufacturing-towns  are  the  homes  of  Dis- 
sent. There  the  social  jealousy  and  the  impa- 
tience of  subordination  and  the  spirit  of  vulgar 
self-assertion  most  abound,  and  there  Dissent  is 
rife.  The  Roman  Church  has  but  little  hold 
upon  the  native  masses  in  this  country,  and  she 
imports  her  poor.  I  refer  to  this  fact  because  we 
are  constantly  taunted  with  the  reproach  of  hav- 
ing no  poor  in  our  churches,  and  shallow  people 


CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.  6 1 

—  and  most  people  are  shallow  —  are  made  to 
think  that  the  Church  careth  not  for  the  poor. 
There  is  another  view.  Should  the  Church  have 
so  many  poor  ?  Should  she  not  enlighten  and 
elevate  them  ?  Should  not  the  hovels  of  our 
laborers  be  made  more  comfortable,  even  if  our 
churches  were  less  gorgeous  ?  Our  system  en- 
courages giving  to,  and  not  taking  from,  the  poor. 
Would  not  "our  Father,"  who  "careth  for  the 
poor,"  have  it  so  ? 

I  cannot  suppress  a  very  instructive  incident. 
Passing  once  up  the  Alabama  River,  I  fell  into 
conversation  with  a  gentleman  of  the  Romish  per- 
suasion. After  some  talk,  slightly  sprinkled  with 
controversy,  he  observed,  "I  do  not  think,  sir, 
you  can  doubt  that  our  Priests  are  more  assiduous 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  than  Protestant 
ministers  are."  —  "I  have  not  been  struck  with 
the  fact,  if  it  be  a  fact,"  I  replied.  "  Now,"  said 
he,  taking  up  a  newspaper  which  he  had  been 
reading,  "here  is  an  account  of  a  man  who  was 
hung  near  Philadelphia  the  other  day.  Who  was 
on  the  scaffold  with  him,  and  giving  him  spiritual 
direction  ?  None  of  your  Protestant  preachers, 
sir,  —  a  priest,  a  Catholic  priest."  —  "  That's 
exactly  where  he  ought  to  have  been,"  I  sug- 
gested. "Why,  sir?"  —  "Because  it  was  one  of 
his  flock  that  was  to  be  hung.  I  have  never 


62        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

myself  refused  to  attend  one  of  my  flock  to  the 
scaffold,  because  I  have  not  been  called  upon. 
The  Church  should  save  her  sheep  from  such  an 
ending."  Let  Peter  pay  pence  to  Ireland,  and 
Ireland  may  not  have  to  seek  succor  from 
America.  Protestant  Irish  seem  to  be  thrifty. 
They  cultivate  potatoes  rather  than  politics. 

The  situation  of  the  Church  in  these  United 
States  is  peculiar.  Many  of  the  old  families  — 
notably  in  New  York,  Maryland,  and  Virginia  — 
were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  almost  always  (except  in 
Maryland,  where  the  Roman  Catholic  element  was 
unusually  large)  Church  families.  In  the  wild  set- 
tlements, there  is  always  an  undue  jealousy  of  social 
distinctions  on  the  part  of  the  laboring  class ; 
and  they  prefer  to  congregate  among  those  of 
their  own  order,  where  their  means  of  living,  mode 
of  life,  style  of  dress,  and  topics  of  thought  and 
conversation,  are  more  alike.  As  an  instance  : 
My  first  parish  was  along  the  banks  of  the  James 
River,  beginning  about  thirty  miles  above  Rich- 
mond, and  extending  some  fifty  miles  towards 
Lynchburg.  The  families  attending  my  services 
at  the  beginning  of  my  ministrations  were  almost 
exclusively  from  the  class  of  wealthy  planters. 
In  the  vicinity  of  my  churches  were  Baptist  and 
Methodist  houses  of  worship,  and  there  congre- 
gated the  overseers  and  small  farmers  from  the 


CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.  63 

hill  country.  These  people  knew  nothing  of 
Church  doctrine  or  order,  but  they  wanted  to  asso- 
ciate with  folk  of  their  own  condition  and  pur- 
suits. The  men  wanted  to  gossip  with  their 
fellows,  and  their  wives  and  daughters  wanted 
their  bonnets  and  gowns  to  be  as  good  as  their 
neighbors'.  The  effect  of  democratic  institutions 
and  the  extension  of  suffrage  and  the  abolish- 
ment of  privileged  orders  was  wonderfully  rapid 
among  the  people  of  this  country. 

There  is  much  discussion  nowadays  as  to  the 
question,  "How  to  get  hold  of  the  masses."  You 
can't  do  it  at  all  by  any  system  of  operations  of  a 
mechanical  character.  There  is  a  repulsion  on 
their  part,  and  produced  by  the  very  spirit  of  envy 
and  jealousy  and  self-assertion  which  the  Church 
tries  to  put  down  and  eradicate.  It  can  only  result 
from  a  larger  measure  of  that  Divine  influence 
which  eradicates  self,  and  inspires  a  thirst  for  truth. 
A  minister,  who  himself  is  deeply  imbued  with 
the  Divine  gift,  and  has  power  and  tact,  can  work 
wonders  with  this  repelling  prejudice,  as  he  can 
with  the  other  powers  of  darkness.  And  that  is 
our  only  hope  just  now,  — a  faint  one,  I  must  con- 
fess. But,  besides  this  indwelling  spirit  of  social 
jealousy  with  its  attendant  ills,  there  were  pecul- 
iar difficulties  with  which  this  Church  had  to  con- 
tend in  her  earlier  history  in  this  country,  — 


64        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

> 

difficulties  which  laid  the  foundation  of  sectism 
deep  and  broad.  The  clergy  of  this  Church  were, 
as  a  general  rule,  Englishmen.  The  Church  itself 
went  by  the  appellation  of  "  The  English  Church" 
We  had  no  bishops  and  no  seminaries  —  every 
thing  was  English.  War  with  England  filled  the 
whole  country  with  animosity  against  every  thing 
"English"  —  church  and  state.  A  tide  of  odium 
and  unreasonable  hate  went  like  a  wave  over  the 
whole  country,  and  threatened  to  ingulf  all  sacred 
memories  that  commonly  attach  men  to  the  land 
of  their  forefathers.  The  Church  suffered  griev- 
ously for  a  long  time,  and  has  not  to  this  day  ral- 
lied from  the  shock  received.  The  Clergy,  many 
of  whom  were  Englishmen  by  birth,  returned  to 
their  native  land,  thus  leaving  many  parishes 
vacant.  Many  of  those  who  remained  during  the 
continuance  of  the  Revolutionary  war  were  incom- 
petent, and,  as  is  the  case  oftentimes  with  colo- 
nial ministers,  were  men  of  little  character.  A 
long  interval  ensued  before  bishops  were  set  apart 
for  America.  The  consequences  of  all  this  were 
disastrous  in  the  extreme.  Parishes  went  rapidly 
to  decay ;  legislation  confiscated  church  property, 
the  gift  of  the  crown  or  of  English  land-owners ; 
popular  prejudice  ran  fiercely  against  her  institu- 
tions because  they  were  stigmatized  as  "English." 
The  masses  of  people  became  alienated.  Method- 


CHURCH  IN  AMERICA.  6$ 

ism,  then  vigorous  and  aggressive,  strongly  ap- 
pealed to  the  passions  of  the  people.  The  landed 
gentry  of  the  country  still  clung  to  the  Church  as 
the  church  of  their  fathers.  They  had  intelli- 
gence sufficient  to  enable  them  to  distinguish 
between  the  Church  and  the  action  of  the  British 
Government,  which  was  so  hateful  to  the  colo- 
nists. But  the  zeal  of  the  few  remaining  adher- 
ents to  the  Church  was  languid.  They  were 
uninstructed  from  Sunday  to  Sunday :  they  were 
rather  disposed  to  fight  for  the  Church  than  to 
live  for  it.  With  some  few  and  striking  excep- 
tions, the  state  of  things  was  as  given  here.  You 
may  judge  of  the  low  condition  into  which  the 
Church  had  fallen  from  this  fact,  which  I  had  from 
Bishop  Meade  of  Virginia :  He,  in  connection 
with  my  father  (William  H.  Wilmer,  D.D.,  after- 
ward president  of  William  and  Mary),  and  one  or 
two  other  earnest  men,  made  united  effort  to 
revive  the  Church  in  Virginia.  They  first  united 
in  calling  Bishop  Moore  to  be  their  bishop.  They 
took  steps,  also,  to  raise  an  endowment  for  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  and  carried  it  through.  The 
theological  seminary  near  Alexandria,  Va.,  is  the 
result  of  the  effort  then  inaugurated,  the  instruc- 
tion of  students  being  first  given  in  my  father's 
house  in  Alexandria.  Whilst  going  through  Vir- 
ginia soliciting  funds  for  this  object,  Bishop 


66        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Meade  (who  was  then  a  young  man)  applied, 
among  others,  to  Judge  Marshall  (Chief  Justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court)  for  aid. 
The  judge  replied  that  of  course  he  would  not 
withhold  his  contribution.  It  was  his  church, 
and  that  of  his  forefathers,  but  he  thought  the 
idea  of  resuscitating  it  in  Virginia  was  hopeless ; 
and  he  expressed  himself  as  full  of  regret  that 
a  young  man  of  family  and  talent,  as  Bishop 
Meade  was,  should  throw  away  his  life  in  so 
quixotic  an  undertaking.  "  The  Old  Chief  "  (as 
Judge  Marshall  was  familiarly  called  among  his 
intimates)  did  not  live  to  see  the  glorious  future 
which  has  opened  for  the  Church  in  Virginia 
from  the  dark  and  apparently  hopeless  condi- 
tion in  which  he  knew  it.  The  clergy  of  Vir- 
ginia can  now  be  found  in  all  countries  of  the 
world  nearly.  One  of  her  sons  is  bishop  of 
Japan  :  another  was  a  bishop  of  Africa,  and  he 
succeeded  a  Virginian  in  that  bishopric.  Seven- 
teen of  her  sons,  born  on  her  soil,  are,  or  have 
been,  bishops  of  dioceses  in  the  United  States. 

But  I  have  digressed.  I  started  with  the  view  of 
showing  how  it  was  that  the  Church  in  this  coun- 
try had  so  slender  a  hold  of  the  masses.  I  said 
that  it  was  not  due  to  any  lack  of  adaptation  on 
her  part  to  the  needs  of  the  more  ignorant,  but 
that  it  was  occasioned  by  influences  of  another 


JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA.  67 

kind,  over  which  the  Church  had  no  control,  and 
which  she  had  no  power  to  resist.  In  England,  as 
I  have  said,  the  poor  in  the  rural  districts  are  de- 
voted to  the  Church.  I  have  seen  them  sitting  in 
crowds,  even  upon  the  steps  of  the  pulpit  in  rural 
churches.  The  fact  is,  that,  the  more  ignorant 
a  people  are,  the  more  they  need  the  appliances 
for  instruction  which  the  Church  affords.  The  lit- 
urgy, with  its  fulness  and  simplicity,  and  its  rich 
provision  of  scriptural  knowledge,  is,  if  a  luxury 
to  the  learned,  a  deep  necessity  to  the  unlearned. 
But  all  this  the  ignorant  do  not  know ;  and  they 
are  so  filled  with  prejudices  by  some  of  their 
teachers,  who  feed  their  pride  and  social  jealousy, 
that  they  are  almost  inaccessible  to  the  clergy  of 
the  Church.  I  have  myself  had  some  experience 
in  this  matter.  My  last  work  in  Virginia  was 
among  the  poor  in  the  vicinity  of  Richmond.  I 
was  induced  to  take  hold  of  the  work  by  an  inti- 
mate friend,  — 

JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA. 
HE  was  a  big-hearted  and  big-brained  man, 
a  native  of  Rothesay,  Scotland, — a  man  of 
wealth,  acquired  by  his  own  intelligence  and 
sagacity.  We  had  been  long  intimate.  In  1858  ' 
I  received  a  letter  from  him  in  reference  to  the 

1  See  Appendix  for  Letters. 


68        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

poor  in  his  neighborhood.  He  said  that  God  had 
given  him  wealth,  and  he  felt  his  responsibility 
for  the  right  use  of  it ;  that  it  pained  him  to  see 
his  neighbors  living  in  practical  atheism  ;  that,  as 
for  himself,  he  could  go  to  Richmond  to  church, 
but  these  neighbors  could  not,  or  would  not.  He 
then  proposed  to  me  to  undertake  the  work  of  a 
missionary  among  them,  —  offered  to  support  me 
whilst  thus  engaged,  also  to  build  a  church  and 
all  things  properly  appertaining  thereto,  etc.  I 
did  not  at  first  take  to  the  plan  proposed.  My 
ministerial  life  had  been  up  to  this  time  pretty 
much  that  of  a  missionary.  I  felt  like  settling 
down  to  the  duties  of  an  organized  parish.  I 
found  no  one  scarcely  who  did  not  regard  the 
scheme  as  chimerical.  The  outlook  was  not  a 
cheerful  one  at  all.  But,  to  make  a  long  story 
short,  after  thinking  over  the  matter  for  some 
time  (Mr.  Stewart  had  asked  me  to  ponder  it, 
and,  to  use  his  own  characteristic  words,  to 
"spread  it,  as  King  Hezekiah  did,  before  the 
Lord"),  I  concluded  at  last  to  accept  the  offer, 
—  he  to  pay  and  pray ;  I  to  teach  and  preach, 
not  without  prayer,  I  trust.  Nobly  did  he  re- 
deem his  ever)'-  promise.  I  preached,  and  went 
from  house  to  house.  He  prayed  as  I  preached. 
I  shall  ever  believe  that  his  prayers  were  the 
prevailing  power.  As  it  was  with  the  centu- 


JOHN  STEWART  OF   VIRGINIA.  69 

rion  of  old,  "  his  prayers  and  his  alms  went  up 
for  a  memorial,  and  were  had  in  remembrance 
before  the  Lord."  I  can  see  him  now,  with  up- 
lifted eye,  moist  with  tears,  praying  as  I  preached. 
Rich  blessings  came  down  from  above  on  our 
work.  We  began  services  in  a  schoolroom,  the 
use  of  which  we  shared  with  the  ministers  of 
various  communions.  By  little  and  little  we 
gained  the  hearts  of  the  people.  They  were 
gathered,  high  and  low,  to  the  altars  of  the  Church. 
Very  soon  a  church  was  built,  nominally  and  to 
an  inappreciable  extent,  by  the  people  of  the  con- 
gregation, but  really  by  Mr.  Stewart  and  his 
brother  Daniel,  a  worthy  brother  of  his  brother 
John.  Then  a  parsonage  was  built,  etc.  At  the 
conclusion  of  three  years,  or  within  a  few  weeks 
of  that  time,  we  had  a  full  and  earnest  congrega- 
tion. At  that  time  (and  I  had  consented  to  give 
at  least  three  years  to  the  work)  I  was  elected 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Alabama.  I  have  jotted 
down  these  reminiscences  for  several  reasons,  — 
first,  because  it  was  an  interesting  and  suggestive 
period  of  my  life ;  second,  because  it  records  the 
piety  and  zealous  conduct  of  a  layman,  showing 
what  an  earnest  man  can  do,  if  he  has  the  heart 
to  work  ;  thirdly,  to  show  how  the  poor  can  be 
reached,  and  brought  into  the  Church  ;  and,  lastly 
and  chiefly,  to  pay  my  tribute  to  the  truth  and 


70        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

faithfulness  of  the  Divine  promise  to  answer 
prayer,  and  to  bestow  blessings  whenever  and 
wherever  "prayers  and  alms"  come  up  before 
God  for  a  memorial.  This,  in  my  judgment,  is 
the  true  way  to  reach  the  masses,  ever  to  "con- 
sider the  poor'1  That  means  much  more  than  to 
give  a  needy  man  an  occasional  alms.  We  must 
"  condescend  to  men  of  low  estate,"  and  none  of  us 
are  so  high  as  to  have  to  stoop  very  much  to  find 
ourselves  on  a  level  with  the  very  poorest.  I  ad- 
mitted a  very  poor  man  to  the  Church  by  baptism 
whilst  I  was  minister  of  "  Emmanuel  Church," 
—  the  church  which  had  been  built  by  the  Messrs. 
Stewart.  When  the  poor  fellow  sought  me  out, 
I  asked  him  what  his  motive  was,  and  how  he 
came  to  seek  admission.  He  replied  that  he  was 
very  ignorant,  and  could  not  read,  and  did  not 
know  much  about  "church  matters,"  as  he  called 
them  ;  "  but,"  said  he,  "  I  have  noticed  a  great 
deal,  and  have  always  seen  the  ladies  of  your 
church  caring  for  the  poor,  visiting  the  sick  and 
afflicted,  and  teaching  the  children,"  etc.  ;  "  and  I 
concluded  that  where  such  good  fruit  grew,  the 
tree  must  be  a  good  one."  God  bless  our  faithful 
women ! 


Well,  I  have  brought  you  down  to  my  period  of 
middle  life  in  my  "  Reminiscences,"  to  the  time 


JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA.  Jl 

when  I  was  elected  Bishop  of  Alabama.  Before 
passing  on,  I  will  only  remark  that  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe  that  my  having  taken  what  was 
thought  to  be  a  lowly  position,  turned  out  in  the 
end  to  my  advancement.  I  doubt  very  much 
whether  I  would  ever  have  been  thought  of  for 
the  bishopric  of  Alabama,  if  I  had  not  taken 
that  position.  The  success  of  the  undertaking, 
in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  my  friend  Stewart, 
was  so  marked  as  to  draw  attention  to  myself  as 
the  visible  working-power.  So  it  often  is.  A 
man  rises  by  stooping.  He  seems  to  rise  with  a 
spring.  Only  do  your  duty,  my  children,  as  the 
leadings  of  Providence  may  indicate,  and  He  will 
direct  your  paths.  I  learned  that  lesson  first 
from  my  mother,  and  my  whole  life  abounds  with 
illustrations  of  its  truth. 

I  must  add  something  more  to  what  I  have 
written  of  my  friend,  John  Stewart.  I  called  him 
a  "big-brained"  and  "big-hearted  man."  What 
I  have  written  of  him  will  show  what  a  big  heart 
he  had  ;  and  if  all  the  people  whom  he  has  helped 
with  his  charities  were  to  subscribe  to  the  publi- 
cation of  this  memoir,  it  would  cost  the  author 
nothing  to  publish  it.  His  munificent  gifts  ex- 
tended not  only  to  kindred,  friends,  and  neighbors 
in  this  country,  but  went  back  in  a  continuous  ref- 
luent wave  to  his  native  land,  Rothesay,  Scotland. 


72        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

I  heard  in  the  most  incidental  way  —  for  he  had 
the  characteristic  reticence  of  his  countrymen  in 
a  marked  degree  —  that  he  sent  regular  remit- 
tances to  his  superannuated  pastor  in  Scotland, 
for  the  reason  that  the  old  man  had  taught  him 
his  catechism  in  childhood.  More  than  this,  he 
and  his  brothers,  Daniel  and  Bryce  Stewart,  built 
at  Rothesay,  Scotland,  "  The  Norman  Stewart 
Institute  for  the  Moral  and  Intellectual  Advance- 
ment of  Workingmen"  and  endowed  it  for  all  time. 
This  Institute  was  named  after  the  uncle  of  the 
brothers  Stewart,  who  had  left  them  property,  a 
part  of  which  was  thus  consecrated  to  a  work  of 
charity,  thus  bringing  to  completion  a  design  for 
which  their  uncle  Norman  had  made  a  partial 
provision  in  his  will.  In  this  way  the  works  of 
large-hearted  men  do  follow  them  through  all  time, 
and  thus  may  men  become  "like  their  Father 
in  heaven,"  and  cause  "their  very  paths  to  drop 
fatness."  His  large  heart  and  mind  find  beautiful 
expression  in  his  last  will  and  testament.  I  had 
always  expected  that  he  would  leave  some  consid- 
erable amount,  either  to  found  or  sustain  some 
benevolent  or  religious  institution.  When  I  as- 
certained that  he  had  not  done  so,  I  felt  some 
surprise  ana  disappointment.  But  he  had  larger 
views  than  I  had  ever  attained  unto,  and  gave  me 
an  idea  altogether  new.  One  of  the  chief  pleas- 


JOHN  STEWART  OF   VIRGINIA.  73 

ures  of  his  life  had  been  to  bless  others  with  his 
wealth.  He  wished  his  wife  and  children  to  en- 
joy the  same  pleasure  with  himself,  and  he  knew 
them  well  enough  to  know  that  what  had  been 
his  pleasure  would  be  theirs  also.  In  this  spirit 
he  framed  his  will,  an  extract  from  which  brings 
out  his  whole  thought,  as  exquisitely  beautiful  as 
it  is  original.  I  bring  it  out  here  to  illustrate  the 
man  and  to  perpetuate  the  sentiment. 

Extract  from  John  Stewart's  will :  — 

"  I  have  made  no  bequests  to  charitable  or  re- 
ligious institutions,  partly  because  what  I  might 
thus  give  would  belong  to  my  wife  and  children, 
but  chiefly  because  I  wish  to  impress  on  their 
minds  the  duty,  the  privilege,  and  the  sweetness, 
of  their  giving  from  right  motives,  —  that  is,  for 
Christ's  sake,  while  they  are  yet  alive." 

Most  nobly  have  they  justified  his  faith  in  them. 

I  have  seen  a  great  many  people  who  were 
"willing  to  communicate:"  he  exemplified  the 
rare  instance  of  one  who  was  "glad  to  distribute." 
More  than  once,  when  we  were  building  together 
a  house  for  the  Lord,  and  I  would  come  to  him 
for  help  in  succoring  the  distressed,  —  he  had 
asked  me  to  be  his  almoner,  —  has  he  handed  me 
the  amount  needed  with  his  eyes  moistened  with 
tears,  and  the  words,  "  I  thank  you  for  giving  me 
this  opportunity."  What  luxuries  the  rich  deprive 


74        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDPA  THER. 

themselves  of  by  not  blessing  others,  and  how 
poor  they  are  amid  all  their  extravagance !  The 
inmate  of  an  almshouse  need  not  envy  the  mil- 
lionnaire  who  is  "rich  toward  himself,  and  poor 
toward  God." 

St.  Xavier  has  left  on  record  a  marvellous  state- 
ment,—  "I  have  had"  —  I  think  he  stated  more 
than  a  million  —  "  many  people  resort  to  me  for 
confession.  The  confession  of  every  sin  that  I 
have  ever  known  or  heard  of,  and  of  sins  so  foul 
that  I  never  dreamed  of,  has  been  poured  into  my 
ear,  but  no  one  person  has  ever  confessed  to  me 
the  sin  of  covetousness  ! " 

Yet  this  sin  is  the  "  root  of  all  evil  "  in  the 
sight  of  Heaven.  I  can  give  almost  the  same 
experience  with  St.  Xavier.  One  man  only  has 
ever  expressed  to  me  the  fear  lest  he  should  be- 
come covetous ;  and  it  is  a  suggestive  fact,  that  he 
was  the  most  generous  man  that  I  have  ever 
known,  —  John  Stewart.  We  used  to  talk  this 
matter  over  frequently.  He  would  say,  "  I  have 
noticed  that  covetousness  is  the  prevailing  disease 
of  old  people ;  I  fear  it  for  myself  as  I  get  older ; 
and  I  know  of  but  one  remedy,  — giving!  giving! 
giving  !  "  He  had  hit  both  the  diagnosis  and  the 
treatment  of  the  disease.  The  spring  will  become 
stagnant  unless  its  waters  flow  freely  :  the  em- 
bankments of  the  dam  will  give  way  unless  there 


JOHN  STEWART  OF   VIRGINIA.  75 

is  a  "waste"  to  carry  off  the  excess  of  water. 
Is  it  not  a  suggestive  fact,  that  the  most  liberal 
are  the  most  fearful  of  selfishness  ?  It  is  natural 
that  it  should  be  so.  The  most  learned  feel  most 
their  ignorance ;  the  most  humble  their  pride ; 
the  most  pure  their  uncleanness ;  and  for  the 
same  reason,  the  most  generous  their  selfishness. 
He  who  habitually  walks  in  the  "  light  of  God's 
countenance  "  sees  all  the  little  motes  and  atoms 
of  remaining  imperfection,  from  which  he  would 
fain  cleanse  himself.  The  concentrated  light  of 
the  sun  through  the  solar  microscope  discloses  to 
view,  in  the  seemingly  pure  drop  of  water,  most 
horrid  forms  of  living  beings.  It  is  not  cant,  then, 
but  a  clear  vision  and  an  humbled  spirit,  that 
brings  out  from  the  holiest  saints  confessions  of 
sin,  and  cries  for  cleansing. 

I  have  written  of  the  heart  of  my  friend  :  a 
word  now  about  his  mind,  which  was  as  broad  and 
all-embracing  as  his  heart.  I  cared  not  to  read 
books  much,  when  we  were  in  daily  intercourse. 
His  book  was  the  Word  of  God ;  and  for  his 
knowledge  of  that  Word,  I  pay  high  honor  to 
his  Scotch  Presbyterian  training.  The  Bible  was 
his  daily  companion  and  his  daily  food.  No  sub- 
ject could  be  brought  up  that  he  did  not  illumi- 
nate and  illustrate  by  Scripture  quotations  and 
allusions.  He  was  not  a  great  talker,  but  always 


76        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

spoke  to  the  purpose  when  he  did  talk.  In  com- 
pany, after  a  subject  had  been  pretty  much  talked 
out,  he  would,  usually,  in  some  one  or  two  preg- 
nant sentences,  settle  the  matter  by  a  generaliza- 
tion which  brought  out  the  principles  of  the  whole 
subject  under  discussion.  This  power  of  generali- 
zation is  the  attribute  of  a  great  intellect.  To 
such  a  mind,  there  is  no  isolated  fact :  it  takes  its 
place  in  the  great  system  of  phenomena  as  the 
•  example  and  illustration  of  a  general  principle 
or  law.  John  Stewart  talked  very  much  as  Lord 
Bacon  wrote. 

We  were  together  every  day,  and  many  hours 
in  the  day,  whilst  the  war  of  the  States  was 
brewing.  Living  within  a  few  miles  of  Richmond, 
and  going  to  the  city  daily  in  his  company,  I  had 
the  benefit  of  his  large  and  comprehensive  views, 
especially  upon  the  financial  aspect  of  the  whole 
question.  What  all  men  now  see,  he  saw  then, 
and  with  perfect  distinctness.  His  prophecy  has 
become  literal  history.  What  perplexed  others, 
was  as  plain  as  the  day  to  his  mind. 

Withal,  there  was  in  the  play  of  his  mind,  as  is 
common  with  such  minds,  a  delicate  humor  and 
wit,  which,  when  argument  had  not  convinced, 
would  end  the  whole  discussion.  I  wish  now  that 
I  had  treasured  up  some  of  his  sayings  which 
were  at  that  time  so  current  among  his  intimates, 


JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA.  JJ 

but  they  have  faded  from  my  memory.  There 
was  not  only  point  in  them,  but,  usually,  a  deep 
moral.  One  only  comes  into  my  mind  at  this 
time,  and  it  is  but  one  of  thousands  of  like  char- 
acter. "Stewart,"  said  a  Richmond  friend,  "I 
am  coming  out  to  cline.  with  you  some  Sunday : 
it's  the  only  day  that  I  have  to  myself."  —  "That's 
unfortunate,"  was  the  reply,  "  for  that  is  the  only 
day  that  is  not  mine  own.  I  have  had  given  me 
six  clays  in  the  week  all  to  myself,  to  '  do  what 
I  have  to  do  : '  the  day  you  mention  is  the  Lord's 
day.  My  great  desire  is  to  dedicate  its  hours  to 
Him  whose  day  it  is." 

This  brings  me  to  speak  of  his  piety.  That 
was  his  crowning  and  all-covering  grace.  He 
never  mentioned  the  name  of  Deity  save  with 
hushed  utterance.  A  holy  awe  seemed  to  come 
over  his  face,  and  tremble  in  his  voice,  when  the 
Divine  Majesty  was  named  by  him.  I  seemed  to 
feel  the  Divine  Presence  when  he  mentioned  that 
Holy  Name.  Then,  too,  his  faith  was  so  childlike. 
All  great  men  have  such  faith.  I  remember  when 
Judge  John  Cochran  of  Eufaula,  Ala.,  came  to 
talk  with  me  about  his  own  confirmation,  I  could 
not  but  contrast  his  speech  with  that  of  some 
very  smart  men  who  have  talked  with  me  on 
the  same  subject.  I  asked  him  about  his  "faith," 
which  he  would  have  to  profess  in  confirmation. 


78        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

I  can  never  forget  his  childlike  look  when  he  an- 
swered, "  I  have  implicit  faith  in  God's  holy 
Word  as  summed  up  in  the  Catholic  Creed  :  I 
never  try  my  reason  in  matters  beyond  its  grasp. 
My  Father  has  spoken  to  me  through  His  Son  : 
I  believe."  Cochran  had  the  largest  mind  that  I 
have  yet  met  with  in  Alabama.  The  first  time 
I  ever  saw  him  was  made  notable  by  an  incident 
quite  characteristic  of  the  man.  We  met  on  the 
road  —  I  going  to  his  house,  and  he  going  to  see 
me.  As  we  met,  a  friend,  who  was  driving  my 
carriage,  called  out,  "Judge,  this  is  the  bishop." 
The  judge  was  absorbed  in  a  large  book,  and  in- 
continently sprang  from  his  seat  into  the  road, 
tumbling  the  book  into  the  sand,  and  warmly 
welcoming  me  to  the  neighborhood.  The  book 
was  Shakspeare.  That  and  the  Bible  were  his 
constant  study.  There  was  no  danger  of  being 
sceptical  with  such  daily  companionship.  Great 
minds  are  never  sceptical.  Dear  Judge,  you,  too, 
have  passed  away,  and  one  light  more  has  gone 
out  from  my  life. 

But  I  have  strayed  from  my  subject.  I  could 
not  let  that  dear  friend  Cochran  be  left  out  of  my 
"  Reminiscences." 

I  was  speaking  of  my  friend  Stewart's  piety  and 
reverence.  I  cannot  take  the  veil  from  his  family 
circle,  and  show  him  there  as  he  was,  husband, 


JOHN  STEWART  OF   VIRGINIA.  79 

father,  brother,  and  friend.  He  is  still  there, 
sanctified  with  all  holy  memories  ;  and  the  mem- 
ory of  his  words  and  life  still  keep  burning  the 
sacred  fire. 

I  said  he  was  brought  up  in  Scotland.  He 
was,  therefore,  as  was  to  be  expected,  baptized  in 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  For  that  Church  he 
never  lost  his  love  and  reverence.  I  should  have 
esteemed  him  less  if  he  had.  But  his  deepest 
religious  impressions  were  received  during  that 
wonderful  revival  —  that  was  indeed  a  revival — 
that  went  like  the  breath  of  heaven  over  Virginia 
nearly  fifty  years  ago,  when  he  received  confirma- 
tion. There  was  a  wonderful  attraction  for  his 
mind  and  heart  in  the  grand  liturgy  of  the 
Church,  that  same  liturgy  for  which  some  of  the 
best  minds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Scot- 
land and  America  do  now  yearn ;  and  no  son  of 
the  Church  ever  appreciated  her  holy  services 
more  than  he  did.  He  often  said  to  me  that  "  the 
ways  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this  country  were 
more  like  those  of  the  '  Free  Church '  of  Scotland 
than  any  other,  and  he  felt  more  at  home  in  her 
services." 

I  used  to  banter  him  about  his  "  Churchman- 
ship,"  etc.,  although  he  was  worth  a  score  of  our 
ordinary  Churchmen,  and  tell  him  that  I  did  not 
expect  to  make  much  of  a  Churchman  out  of  such 


80        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Scotch  material  as  he  was  made  of,  but  that  I  was 
thankful  to  have  him  just  as  he  was.  I  remember 
now  sending  him  a  published  sermon  of  mine  on 
"The  Church  of  the  Living  God,  the  Pillar  and 
Ground  of  the  Truth,"  saying  to  him  that  I  did 
not  expect  him  to  fall  in  with  some  of  the  views 
expressed.  His  reply  was  quite  characteristic, 
and  has  ever  since  been  suggestive.  Many  of  our 
Churchmen  might  ponder  it  to  advantage.  "  You 
cannot  put  the  Church  too  high  for  me,  if  you 
always  keep  the  Head  above  the  body."  That  is  a 
fair  sample  of  his  manner  of  speech  and  writing. 

Many  friends  who  have  sojourned  at  "  Brook 
Hill,"  Mr.  Stewart's  residence  near  Richmond, 
and  have  been  privileged  to  worship  at  the  family 
altar,  a  sacred  shrine  in  that  household,  have  told 
me  of  the  singular  impressiveness  of  the  whole 
scene  at  family  prayer.  I  have  always  regretted 
that  I  could  not  have  enjoyed  that  privilege,  my 
ministerial  office  calling  upon  me  to  officiate  my- 
self when  present.  They  have  told  me  that  an 
inexpressible  solemnity  attended  those  services. 
The  deep  utterance  of  the  father's  voice,  and  pro- 
found awe,  the  simple  and  grand  language  of  ad- 
dress before  the  throne,  all  made  them  feel  that 
God  was  in  the  midst  of  them. 

I  named  a  son  after  him,  John  Stewart  Wilmer, 
a  dear,  blue-eyed  little  fellow,  who  was  soon  taken 


JOHN  STEWART  OF  VIRGINIA.  8 1 

home.  What  remains  of  him  on  earth  lies  hard 
by  the  walls  of  dear  "  Emmanuel,"  the  church 
which  his  godfather  Stewart  and  I  had  together 
builded.  Near  by  —  and  I  love  to  think  that  to- 
gether they  will  rise  at  the  last  day  —  lies  what 
was  mortal  of  his  namesake.  "  Emmanuel "  (God 
with  us)  Church  seems  to  guard  the  precious  spot. 

I  have  named  for  him  now  a  grandson,  John 
Stewart  Jones,  another  blue-eyed  boy.  I  ask  no 
more  for  him  from  Heaven  than  that  he  may  have 
a  portion  of  the  mind  and  heart  that  dwelt  in  his 
namesake,  John  Stewart. 

In  the  sketch  here  given  of  my  dear  friend 
Stewart,  I  may,  perhaps,  have  left  an  impression 
that  he  was  a  stern  man.  He  was  a  stern  man, 
—  stern  as  granite  in  his  convictions  of  truth  and 
duty.  Neither  fear,  favor,  nor  affection  could 
move  him  a  hair-breadth  in  such  matters ;  for  he 
lived  habitually  in  the  light  of  the  Divine  Pres- 
ence, and  the  judgment  of  man  had  no  weight 
when  his  conscience  had  decided.  His  character 
in  this  respect  is  strikingly  brought  out  in  the 
inscription  upon  his  tombstone,  "  Blessed  is  the 
man  whose  strength  is  in  Thee,  in  whose  heart 
are  Thy  ways." 

To  the  casual  acquaintance  he  ordinarily  ap- 
peared to  be  a  very  grave  man  ;  and  friends  whom 
I  have  introduced  to  him  have  often  asked  me, 


82         REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

"Is  not  your  friend  Mr.  Stewart  a  very  austere 
man  ? "  a  question  which  always  amused  me,  who 
knew  him  in  his  family  privacy  and  inner  life.  Ah, 
how  genial  and  bright  he  was  here  in  his  home- 
circle  and  among  his  intimates,  where  the  warm 
beams  of  his  loving  nature,  and  the  bright  spar- 
klings  of  his  refined  humor  and  wit,  made  a  very 
sunshine  in  his  dwelling ! 

His  heart  was  as  full  of  thanksgiving  as  of  sup- 
plication. More  than  almost  any  one  I  ever  knew, 
he  illustrated  in  his  every-day  life  the  injunction 
of  the  holy  apostle  to  "  be  careful  for  nothing,  but 
in  every  thing,  by  prayer  and  supplication  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  requests  be  made  known 
unto  God,"  etc.  Hence  came  the  habitual  peace 
which  pervaded  his  heart,  and  irradiated  his 
dwelling. 

As  a  father,  he  was  so  loving,  so  tender,  so 
considerate,  so  mindful  of  human  infirmity,  that 
his  dear  children  will  ever  be  able  to  reproduce 
from  the  remembrance  of  the  earthly  father  re- 
freshing and  comforting  views  of  the  Divine 
Father.  Thus  did  he  let  his  light  so  shine  in  his 
household  that  all  around  him  —  children,  ser- 
vants, and  friends  —  saw  his  good  works,  and 
glorified  their  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 

He  has  passed  out  of  mortal  sight  ;  but  long 
will  the  radiance  of  his  bright  and  holy  life  shine 


RELIGIOUS  BODIES  IN  UNITED  STATES.      83 

upon  his  dwelling-place,  even  as  the  light  of  part- 
ing day  lingers  upon  the  horizon  long  after  the 
sun  has  gone  down. 

He  made  unto  himself  "friends  of  the  mam- 
mon of  unrighteousness."  He  builded  God  a 
house.  Shall  he  not  enter  into  everlasting  habita- 
tions ?  May  my  end  be  like  his,  and  my  habita- 
tion with  him  forevermore ! 

DIFFERENT  RELIGIOUS  BODIES  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Now  I  desire  to  say  something  about  the  differ- 
ent religious  bodies  with  which  you  will  come  in 
contact,  and  to  point  out  their  characteristics 
and  claims,  and  to  show  you  your  relation  to 
them.  It  is  most  important  that  you  understand 
these  things,  —  first,  that  you  may  give  an  intelli- 
gent reason  for  your  own  position  in  Christendom, 
and  also  be  prepared  to  instruct  others  in  matters 
of  so  great  concernment.  That  there  should  be 
divisions  among  Christian  people,  is  much  to  be 
deplored  for  every  reason.  Division  runs  counter 
to  the  mind  of  our  Lord,  whose  prayer  ever  was, 
"  Father,  that  they  may  be  one  as  We  are  one." 
Again,  it  breeds  unholy  contention  and  emulation ; 
divides  forces,  and  wastes  energies ;  practically,  it 
divides  to  a  certain  extent  (and  it  is  to  that  extent 
injurious)  the  Kingdom  of  God  against  itself.  The 


84        REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 

divided  state  of  Christendom  is  gloried  over  in  a 
certain  kind  of  flash  oratory,  which  describes  the 
varied  hues  of  a  divided  Christianity  as  a  beauti- 
ful kaleidoscopic  picture,  where  are  displayed 
all  the  prismatic  hues  of  light  —  forgetting  that 
where  the  colors  of  the  prism  are  exhibited,  it 
is  in  consequence  of  refraction,  and  does  not 
present  the  pure  light  as  it  comes  from  heaven. 
Or,  as  some  others  delight  to  view  it,  they 
describe  the  various  denominations  as  regiments 
or  divisions  of  the  grand  army,  fighting  under  one 
Captain,  —  the  great  Captain  of  salvation.  All 
this  sounds  very  pretty,  and  is  sufficiently  capti- 
vating to  a  certain  sort  of  mind ;  but  the  lament- 
able fact  is,  that  these  several  regiments  or 
divisions  —  call  them  what  you  will  —  are  spend- 
ing a  large  part  of  their  strength  and  time  in 
righting  and  firing  into  each  other.  They  have 
to  keep  three  or  four  ministers  in  a  little  village 
(where  the  services  of  one  good  man  would  be 
sufficient),  to  watch  each  other,  and  keep  the  bal- 
ance of  power  even.  At  this  moment  two-thirds 
of  the  ministers  in  the  villages  might  be  sent  to 
the  heathen,  to  the  great  advantage  of  Christen- 
dom. Time  would  fail  me  to  enter  into  all  the 
evils  of  schism.  Yet  we  find  good  and  true  men 
among  all  the  great  denominations.  We  must  not 
ignore  that  fact,  nor  that  other  great  fact,  —  that 


RELIGIOUS  BODIES  IN  UNITED  STATES.      85 

this  goodness  which  we  see  is  the  fruit  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  and  the  outcome  of  union  with 
Christ.  They  could  not  else  manifest,  as  they  do 
often,  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  These  are  the 
actual  phenomena  with  which  we  have  to  deal,  — 
to  deal  fairly  and  honestly.  Hence  we  are  called 
upon  to  distinguish  between  men  and  their  sys- 
tems and  organizations.  The  latter  may  be  a 
mistake,  a  wrong,  an  injury ;  and  yet,  through 
the  frailty  of  sinful  men,  good  men  may  be  ear- 
nestly, however  mistakenly,  working  under  them. 
With  some  men  it  is  a  lust  of  power,  an  ambitious 
spirit,  a  desire  to  exalt  self.  Divisions  ordinarily 
spring  from  unruled  lusts  of  ambitious  men,  good 
men,  too,  it  may  be,  but  not  good  enough  to  kill 
their  ambition.  With  some  other  men,  their 
denominational  connections  are  the  result  of  igno- 
rance and  shallowness  :  they  really  think  they  are 
promoting  the  parity  of  the  Church  by  a  whole- 
some rivalry.  With  the  great  mass  of  men,  it  is 
a  matter  of  accident  or  of  pure  indifference.  They 
don't  care  or  think  much  about  the  matter..  Now, 
I  hold  —  and  have  ever  taught,  both  publicly  and 
privately  —  that  the  divided  state  of  Christendom 
is  an  evil  of  incalculable  magnitude,  and  that  it 
becomes  every  Christian  man  to  do  what  in  him 
lies  to  heal  the  breach.  He  cannot  do  it,  in  my 
judgment,  by  treating  the  evil  lightly,  nor  by 


86        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

contention  and  strife.  The  evil  comes  from  the 
Evil  One :  the  counteracting  good  must  come 
from  the  Author  and  Giver  of  all  goodness.  All 
work  for  whatever  good  end,  if  not  done  in  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  intensifies  the  evil  sought  to  be 
remedied.  It  adds  fuel  to  the  fire  :  it  feeds,  in- 
stead of  quenching,  the  flame.  I  hold  —  and  have 
ever  taught  and  preached  it  —  that  each  Chris- 
tian man  should,  so  far  as  his  intelligence  goes, 
seek  to  know  what  is  the  truth  in  all  this  matter 
of  a  divided  Christendom.  The  very  spirit  and 
desire  to  find  out  the  truth  is  a  good  beginning, 
and  will  not  end  there  in  any  earnest  mind.  The 
difficulty  would  not  long  exist  were  men  earnestly 
to  go  to  work  to  find  out  the  truth,  with  the  love 
of  the  truth  to  inspire  their  search.  One  has  no 
business  to  talk  about  any  truth  in  any  other 
spirit,  no  more  than  he  would  have  a  right  to 
talk  about  the  properties  of  angles,  etc.,  unless 
he  had  learned  something  of  geometry.  The  good 
in  an  evil  thing  is  often  only  apparent  on  the 
surface :  the  evil  often  poisons  and  corrupts  the 
whole  system. 

But  I  am  dwelling  too  long  upon  these  generali- 
ties. I  must  come  to  a  nearer  and  more  tangible 
view  of  the  subject,  only  observing,  at  the  outset, 
that  every  man,  and  every  body  of  men,  should 
give  an  account  of  themselves,  when  they  came 


ROMAN,    OR  LATIN,    CHURCH.  87 

into  being,  and  what  good  purpose  they  are  sub- 
serving by  continuance  in  being ;  in  a  word,  the 
"  mis  on  d'etre."  I  take  up,  first,  the 

ROMAN,   OR  LATIN,   CHURCH. 

I  TAKE  this  Church  first,  because  she  is  the 
largest  Christian  organization  in  the  world ;  and, 
furthermore,  she  claims  to  be  the  only  legitimate, 
divinely  appointed  communion  of  Christians  on 
earth.  You  will  meet  the  claims  of  Rome  every- 
where, in  books,  newspapers,  schools,  colleges,  etc. 
A  wonderful  piece  of  mechanism  it  is,  a  vast,  com- 
plex, flexible  and  inflexible  power,  suited  to  all 
temperaments,  adjusting  itself  to  all  idiosyncrasies, 
and,  as  it  regards  the  great  "Society  of  Jesus" 
especially,  politic,  daring,  or  submissive,  as  the 
case  may  call  for,  to  the  last  degree  —  alas  !  in 
what  painful  contrast  with  the  simplicity  of  "the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  Rome  is  to-day  pretty 
much  what  Jesuitism  is ;  because  Jesuitism,  after 
having  fought  the  world,  and  even  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  sometimes,  and  after  having  been  expelled  in 
turn  from  nearly  all  the  countries  of  Europe',  has 
achieved  its  present  commanding  position,  gives 
counsel  to  popes,  causes  doctrines  to  be  promul- 
gated, —  new  doctrines  upon  the  same  platform 
with  the  ancient  Creeds.  Rome  claims  to  be  exclu- 
sively "the  Catholic  Church."  The  Church  in 


88        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

England,  as  I  have  before  written,  was  at  one 
time  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome; 
so  were  all  the  churches  of  Western  Europe.  The 
Church  in  England  is  not  now ;  but  Rome,  none  the 
less,  asserts  her  claim,  and  promulgates  decrees  and 
dogmas  as  by  divine  warranty.  Within  my  mem- 
ory, she  has  taken  a  private  opinion  of  individuals, 
and  elevated  it  to  the  dignity  of  a  fundamental 
dogma,  —  "  the  immaculate  conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin."  Later  still,  and  in  my  day,  she  has  pro- 
mulgated the  dogma  of  the  "infallibility  of  the 
Pope,"  —  has  done  it  formally;  and  her  adherents, 
some  of  them  reluctant,  and  some  recalcitrant  for 
a  while,  have  either  formally  given  in,  or  preserve  a 
still  silence.  Strange  —  and  yet  not  strange  —  it  is, 
that  the  promulgation  of  infallibility  synchronized 
exactly  with  the  passing  away  of  all  her  temporal 
dominion.  This  fact  is  exquisitely  brought  out  by 
Mozley  in  his  "  University  Sermons."  I  cannot  for- 
bear a  single  extract.  He  is  speaking  of  the  proc- 
lamation of  infallibility  by  the  Pope  at  the  moment 
of  his  stepping  down  from  the  throne  of  temporal 
dominion.  "  Is  this  not,"  says  Mozley,  "the  act  of 
a  dispossessed  monarch,  who,  upon  the  eve  of  the 
crisis,  collects  all  his  greatness  about  him,  and  pre- 
pares to  quit  his  throne  with  a  rigorous  statement  of 
his  rights  first  put  forth  ?  .  .  .  The  claim  represents 
former  possession.  Rome  issues  out  of  her  own 


ROMAN,   OR  LATIN,   CHURCH.  89 

gates,  taking  her  history  with  her;  she  collects 
her  prestige,  she  gathers  up  the  past,  she  calls  in 
all  the  antecedents  of  her  temporal  greatness  ;  she 
stereotypes  memory  in  decrees ;  sh'e  condenses 
history  into  dogmas ;  she  surrounds  herself  sym- 
bolically with  all  the  insignia  of  her  secular  glory. 
...  A  thousand  banners  and  escutcheons  are  hid 
in  one  of  those  sentences  which  makes  the  state- 
ment of  her  dominion,  in  order  to  serve  as  a  sup- 
port to  her  in  the  loss  of  the  fact.  .  .  .  All  in 
vain !  The  earth  must  roll  back  on  its  axis  before 
the  moral  sense  of  society  recants  on  these  ques- 
tions. .  .  .  Never  again,  never,  though  ages  pass 
away,  never  any  more  under  the  heavens,  shall 
be  seen  forms  and  fabrics  and  structures  and  com- 
binations that  we  have  seen.  They  have  taken 
their  place  among  departed  shapes  and  organisms, 
deposited  in  that  vast  mausoleum  which  receives, 
sooner  or  later,  all  human  creations.  The  mould 
in  which  they  were  made  is  broken,  and  their  suc- 
cessors will  be  casts  from  a  new  mould.  The 
world  is  evidently  at  the  end  of  one  era,  and  is 
entering  upon  another ;  but  there  will  remain  the 
Christian  creed  and  the  Christian  Church,  to  en- 
lighten ignorance,  to  fight  with  sin,  and  to  con- 
duct man  to  eternity"  (pp.  22-24  of  Mozley's 
"  University  Sermons  " ). 

Upon  what  grounds,  you  may  well  ask,  does 


9O        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Rome  build  her  vast  pretensions  ?  Chiefly  upon  a 
declaration  of  our  Lord  to  St.  Peter  :  "  Upon  this 
rock  I  will  build  My  church,"  etc.  If  the  words 
mean  what  the  Romanists  affirm  they  do  mean, 
there  is  no  declaration  that  they  confer  any  special 
authority  or  privilege  upon  the  Bishops  of  Rome. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  a  mooted  point  whether 
St.  Peter  was  ever  Bishop  of  Rome.  St.  Paul 
certainly  was  there,  and  also  wrote  the  "  Epistle 
to  the  Romans."  But,  besides,  you  must  interpret 
the  meaning  of  our  Lord's  declaration  in  the  light 
of  subsequent  history.  Is  there  any  evidence  to 
show  that  St.  Peter  claimed  the  pre-eminence  said 
to  have  been  conferred  upon  him  in  these  quoted 
words,  or  that  it  was  ever  conceded  to  him  by 
the  other  Apostles  ?  The  contrary  is  the  fact. 
Rome  is  not  the  "mother"  of  churches.  Jeru- 
salem, where  the  Christian  dispensation  of  the 
Church  was  inaugurated,  is  the  mother  church. 
And  you  will  observe  Aat  at  the  meeting  of  the 
first  council  of  the  Church  (Acts  xv.),  St.  James, 
the  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  the  presiding 
Bishop  ;  St.  Peter  merely  giving  his  opinion  as  a 
member  of  the  council.  St.  Peter  gave  his  opin- 
ion, whereas  St.  James  concluded  the  deliberations 
of  the  council  by  saying,  "  Wherefore  my  sentence 
is"  thus  announcing  the  judgment  of  that  body. 
How  can  such  a  state  of  things  be  accounted 


ROMAN,   OR  LATIN,    CHURCH.  QI 

for  from  the  Romanists'  position  in  regard  to 
the  so-called  successors  of  St.  Peter?  It  was 
many  years  before  a  Bishop  of  Rome  claimed 
any  thing  like  supremacy ;  and  her  claim  was  never 
recognized  by  the  Church  Universal.  The  Ori- 
ental churches  never  fell  under  the  power  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  They  exist  to-day,  and  have  ex- 
isted from  the  beginning,  apart  from  the  sway  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome.  It  is  the  most  shameless 
and  groundless  assumption,  that  of  the  claim 
of  the  Pope  to  universal  supremacy  and  —  as  a 
corollary  therefrom  —  to  infallibility.  When  you 
read,  as  you  will,  in  history  of  the  counter-decisions 
of  bishops  of  Rome,  and  of  the  profligate  lives  of 
many  of  them  (history  records  no  worse  characters 
than  some  of  them),  it  is  almost  amusing,  were  the 
consequences  less  serious,  to  hear  such  announce- 
ments as  are  made  of  the  power  of  the  Pope. 
Flings  at  the  English  Church,  because  of  Henry 
VIII. 's  character,  come  with  a  bad  grace  from  men 
who  now,  as  a  matter  of  salvation,  must  believe  in 
the  infallibility  of  a  Borgia !  Then,  too,  when 
you  come  to  the  matter  of  doctrine, — that  of 
transubstantiation,  the  worship  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  the  Romish  purgatory,  etc., — you,  who 
have  been  instructed  in  the  word  of  God,  can 
hardly  be  drawn  away  from  the  ancient  faith  into 
the  mazes  of  Romish  error.  The  best  antidote 


92        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

against  all  uncatholic  doctrine  is  a  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Word  of  God,  as  interpreted 
and  accepted  by  the  Universal  Church.  It  is  a 
two-edged  sword,  that  guards  in  all  directions  the 
tree  of  life.  Make  it,  my  children,  your  book  of 
counsel,  the  guide  for  time  and  eternity,  health  for 
body  and  soul.  Yet,  think  not  that  I  join  in  the 
popular  and  undiscriminating  tirade  against  Rome. 
She  has  the  faith,  though  sadly  disfigured,  and  en- 
rolls among  her  children  a  goodly  fellowship  of 
saints  and  a  noble  army  of  martyrs,  —  not,  indeed, 
because  of  her  errors,  but  in  spite  of  them.  In 
many  things,  we  might  imitate  the  zeal  and  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  so  wonderfully  illustrated  in  her  com- 
munion. Roman-Catholicism,  in  so  far  as  it  is  true 
to  the  catholic  faith,  is  one  thing,  and  worthy  of  all 
admiration.  But  Romanism,  as  corrupted  by  new 
doctrines,  and  perverted  by  Jesuitism,  which  just 
now  is  in  the  ascendent,  and  dictates,  as  is  thought, 
the  policy  of  that  Church,  is  quite  another  thing. 
Against  all  these  uncatholic  features  of  the  Roman 
Church,  this  Church  of  ours  enters  her  solemn  pro- 
test. Hence,  she  is  called  the  "Protestant "  Church, 
because  she  is  so  truly  catholic.  Her  Protestant- 
ism constitutes  really  the  negative  side  of  her 
Catholicity.  We  do  not  believe  in  "The  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church."  And  why?  Because  our 
faith  cannot  properly  rest  in  any  one  branch  of  the 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMUNION.  93 

Church.  Any  particular  church  may  err  in  the 
faith.  Rome  assuredly  has ;  she  has  erred  by 
unwarranted  additions  to  the  faith ;  she  imposes 
uncatholic  conditions  of  communion  and  fellowship. 
We  cannot  fraternize  with  her,  without  accepting 
as  true  what  is  not  true.  Besides,  she  has  excom- 
municated us  :  we  have  never  excommunicated  her. 
The  schism  between  us  is  not  of  our  making. 
We  are  ready  to  meet  her,  and  all  the  historical 
churches  (by  this  I  mean  all  churches  tracing  an 
Apostolic  succession  of  the  ministry),  upon  the  basis 
of  catholic  truth,  —  that  which  always  was  every- 
where, and  held  by  all,  —  our  faith  being  in  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  only  using  the  appella- 
tion of  "Protestant  Episcopal"  byway  of  designat- 
ing a  branch  of  the  Church,  and  because  it  has  a 
well-known  doctrinal  and  historical  significance ; 
just  as  we  designate  continents  and  oceans  and 
bays  and  rivers,  to  localize  and  designate  them,  but 
not  to  deny  or  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  all  these 
several  divisions  make  up  the  great  land  and  sea. 
"  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem" 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMUNION 
Is   a   select,  learned,  and  most  respectable  com- 
munion of  Christian  people.    Why  is  it  called  Pres- 
byterian ?    To  indicate  the  fact  that  their  ministers 
are  presbyters  merely,  and  that  they  recognize  no 


94        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER., 

office  in  the  Church  like  that  of  our  Bishops. 
That  Denomination  has  precedence  in  Scotland, 
an  existence  in  England  and  Ireland,  in  France 
and  the  United  States,  besides  scattered  congrega- 
tions on  the  Continent,  and  missions  among  the 
heathen.  Its  history  dates  back  no  farther  than 
the  Reformation.  There  is  no  satisfactory  record 
of  a  church  up  to  that  era  which  was  not  ruled  by 
Bishops.  They  claim  that  their  ministerial  gov- 
ernment was  instituted  by  the  Apostles,  but  admit 
that  it  soon  merged  into  the  Episcopal  form.  It 
will  strike  any  one  as  very  strange  that  the  Apos- 
tolic form  of  government  (supposing,  for  the  sake 
of  argument,  that  such  was  Presbyterian)  should 
have  lasted  so  short  a  time.  There  must  have 
been  a  strong  tendency  to  Episcopacy  in  early 
Presbyterianism.  During  the  apostolic  era,  the 
Church  was  without  controversy,  governed  by  the 
Apostles.  The  first  clear  intimations  of  subsequent 
history  give  us  Episcopal  churches  everywhere. 
If  any  change  ever  took  place  from  Presbyterian  to 
Episcopal  polity,  as  they  allege,  history  does  not 
record  the  fact  nor  the  time.  The  truth  is,  that  all 
this  talk  is  purely  conjectural,  imaginary,  and  hardly 
reasonable.  If  there  is  any  truth  in  it,  the  burden 
of  proof  (positive)  rests  upon  themselves.  The 
whole  stream  of  history  is  against  the  assertion. 
The  analogy  of  nature,  in  its  manifold  headship, 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMUNION.  95 

is  against  it.  It  is  an  afterthought  altogether. 
Some  of  the  most  learned  of  their  reformers  — 
notably,  Calvin  —  acknowledged  the  fact  of  primi- 
tive Episcopacy,  and  he  would  have  ingrafted  the 
feature  upon  his  system  had  it  been  practicable. 
The  history  of  Puritanism  in  England  is  a  most 
suggestive  one.  It  originated  in  a  certain  school 
of  divines  in  the  Church  in  England  who  were 
enamoured  of  a  more  simple  ritual  than  that  of 
the  Church,  and  held  stronger  views  of  the  doc- 
trines of  predestination  and  election,  etc.,  than 
"The  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion  "  justified. 
The  body  of  divines  holding  said  views,  at  last, 
after  many  attempts  had  been  made  to  pacify 
and  harmonize  them,  went  to  themselves,  estab- 
lished their  standard,  —  "The  Confession  of  Faith," 
—  and  thus  took  a  determinate  departure  from 
the  historical  Church  in  England  and  other 
countries.  They  seemed  to  run  counter  to  every 
distinctive  feature  of  the  Church:  —  we  kneeled, 
they  stood,  in  prayer ;  we  kneeled  at  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  they  sat  and  partook  ;  they  objected 
to  the  use  of  the  surplice,  to  the  sign  of  the 
cross  in  baptism,  to  the  wedding-ring,  etc.  So 
trivial  were  the  grounds  of  their  dissent,  as  you 
will  see  in  any  history  of  the  times.  But  times 
are  changed ;  and  they  have  changed,  as  we 
all  have  changed,  with  the  times.  No  more  do 


96        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

we  hear  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Presbyterian- 
ism.  The  great  Fatherhood  of  God,  loving  all 
His  children,  and  shining  like  the  sun  on  all  His 
creatures,  has  relegated  to  the  tombs  all  those 
narrow,  harsh,  repelling,  and  appalling  views  of 
the  Deity  which  came  once  from  Presbyterian 
pulpits.  They  still  sing,  "Hark  from  the  tombs," 
but  the  voice  of  the  Easter-tide  will  drown  that 
doleful  cry  after  a  while.  Some  of  their  best 
men  are  beginning  to  cry  aloud  for  a  liturgical 
worship.  After  a  while  they  will  demand  it. 
Their  sabbaths  (Judaical  as  theirs  have  been)  will 
give  way  to  the  "Lord's  Day;"  and  they  will 
sing  Te  Deums  and  Glorias,  as  other  Christian 
people  have  done  and  will  continue  to  do.  Why 
they  keep  up  their  distinctive  organization,  it 
would  be  hard  to  say.  What  great  truth  they 
maintain  distinctively,  cannot  be  pointed  out. 
What  special  attraction  there  is  in  their  mode  of 
worship,  does  not  appear.  They  hold  a  great 
deal  that  is  good,  but  they  do  not  specially  hold 
any  thing  good  that  the  historical  Episcopal 
Church  does  not  also  hold.  You  may  say  indeed, 
with  truth,  that  distinctive  Presbyterianism  no 
longer  exists,  save  in  its  ministerial,  polity ;  and 
that  cannot  stand  the  test  of  history.  Chilling- 
worth  (in  his  "  Apostolical  Institution  of  Episco- 
pacy Demonstrated  "  )  puts  the  allegation,  on  the 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  COMMUNION'.  97 

part  of  the  Presbyterians,  that  "Tresbyterianism 
was  ancient  and  Apostolic,  but  had  run  into  Episco- 
pacy "  in  a  helpless  condition.  He  says  (p.  509), 
"  When  I  shall  see,  therefore,  all  the  fables  in  the 
'Metamorphoses'  acted,  and  prove  true  stories; 
when  I  shall  see  all  the  Democracies  and  Aristoc- 
racies in  the  world  lie  down  and  sleep,  and  awake 
into  Monarchies, — then  will  I  begin  to  believe  that 
Presbyterial  government,  having  continued  in  the 
Church  during  the  apostles'  times,  should  presently 
after  (against  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  the  will 
of  Christ)  be  whirled  about  like  a  scene  in  a  mask, 
and  transformed  into  Episcopacy.  In  the  mean 
time,  while  things  remain  thus  incredible,  and  in 
human  reason  impossible,  I  hope  I  shall  have 
leave  to  conclude  thus  :  '  Episcopal  government  is 
acknowledged  to  have  been  universally  received 
in  the  Church  presently  after  the  Apostles'  times.' 
'Between  the  Apostles'  and  this  "presently  after," 
there  was  not  time  enough  for,  nor  possibility  of, 
so  great  an  alteration.' 

"And,  therefore,  there  was  no  such  alteration 
as  is  pretended.  And  therefore  Episcopacy,  be- 
ing confessed  to  be  so  ancient  and  catholic,  must 
be  granted  also  to  be  Apostolic.  Quod  erat  de- 
monstrandum" 

The  fact  is,  that  Romanism  and  Presbyterian- 
ism,  in  some  of  their  distinctive  characteristics, 


98        REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

are  both  uncatholic.  They  have  more  things 
in  common  than  would  be  supposed  at  a  first 
glance.  They  both  ignore  and  undervalue  patris- 
tic learning  and  authority.  Presbyterian  min- 
isters, although  well  educated  in  the  general, 
are  proverbially  deficient  in  patristic  lore.  They 
find  no  comfort  in  reading  the  "Fathers,"  for  they 
ever  find  Episcopacy,  and  Episcopacy  is  most  un- 
savory to  them.  The  Romanists,  likewise,  run 
away  from  the  Fathers  nowadays.  They  are 
always  seeking  for  proofs  of  the  Pope's  suprem- 
acy, and  the  Fathers  did  not  know  any  thing  about 
so  novel  a  doctrine.  The  English  Church  with 
her  weighty  artillery  has  driven  the  Romish  con- 
troversialists out  of  their  old  intrenchments,  and 
they  are  now  seeking  a  new  position  of  defence 
in  the  doctrine  of  "development,"  which,  as  practi- 
cally interpreted  by  them,  means,  not  development 
of  truth  revealed,  but  revelation  of  new  truth. 
Newman  and  Manning  have  both  helped  them  on 
this  new  line.  The  only  safety  is  in  Catholic 
truth,  and  in  the  Apostolical  order  of  the  Church, 
which  comes  to  us  with  the  same  universality  of 
evidence  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  themselves  do, 
—  catJiolic  consent.  And  he  who  disparages  the 
idea  of  catJiolic  consent,  disparages  the  very  founda- 
tion upon  which  the  Canon  of  Holy  Scripture  rests 
for  its  authenticity. 


BAPTIST  FRIENDS.  99 

But  the  vital  matter  for  men  to  know  amid 
all  these  controversies  is  this,  —  that  spiritual 
life  comes  from  the  indwelling  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  the  Lord  and  Giver  of  life.  He  dwells 
in  men,  despite  many  opposing  infirmities,  errors, 
and  sins,  else  would  He  not  dwell  in  any  one 
of  us. '  How  far  a  man  may  go  in  error  or  sin 
without  quenching  the  life  of  the  soul,  is  not  re- 
vealed. We  may  not  expect  in  this  our  earthly 
pilgrimage  to  live  without  these  clogging  errors 
and  faults,  but  let  it  be  our  aim  really  to  live.  It 
matters  little  what  a  dead  man  believes,  —  there  is 
not  much  difference  in  dead  things  :  they  are  all 
putting  on  corruption.  But  there  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  vast  difference  in  living  things.  The 
nearer  one  lives  in  the  truth  and  to  the  truth,  the 
more  of  a  man  is  he,  and  the  higher  his  possible 
usefulness  and  destiny.  Therefore,  my  children, 
strive  to  walk  in  the  truth,  and  with  boundless 
compassion  for  the  ignorant  and  erring  —  not  dif- 
ficult for  any  one  to  do  who  fully  realizes  his  own 
frailty  and  fallibility. 

But  we  must  say  a  few  words  about  our 

BAPTIST   FRIENDS. 

THEY  are  a  very  large  denomination  in  this 
country,  but  do  not  exercise  the  same  power  with 
the  Methodists,  because  they  lack  compactness 


100      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  unity  in  their  organization.  They  sprang  up 
about  the  time  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  ;  and 
in  some  places  they  were  turbulent  and  very  heady, 
as  Luther  testified.  In  their  Polity,  they  are  In- 
dependents and  Congregationalists ;  each  con- 
gregation containing  within  itself  governmental 
powers  —  each  congregation  an  autonomy.  They 
form  among  themselves  what  they  style  "Associ- 
ations ;"  but  these  are  purely  voluntary,  and  are 
clothed  with  very  limited  powers. 

Their  boast  is,  that  they  possess  "no  written 
creed  : "  they  do  not  baptize  children,  and  they  re- 
gard immersion  as  the  only  valid  baptism,  —  in- 
deed, as  alone  baptism.  They  ignore  the  question 
of  the  ministry  pretty  much,  and  attach  a  supreme 
importance  to  two  things,  —  no  children  baptized, 
and  adult  believers  alone  to  be  baptized,  and  by 
immersion.  They  have  among  them  some  quite 
distinguished  and  learned  men  ;  but  as  a  denomi- 
nation, viewed  in  the  large,  their  preachers  and 
people  are  much  less  informed  than  the  majority 
of  the  other  sects.  Of  late  they  are  earnest  pro- 
moters of  education.  They  are  exclusive,  — would 
be  called  very  High  Church  among  us, — but  by 
their  fraternizations  with  other  Christian  people 
in  preachings,  etc.,  they  get  credit  among  the  un- 
thinking for  a  liberality  which  is  not  deserved ; 
for  they  will  not  commune  with  their  fellow- 


BAPTIST  FRIENDS.  IOI 

Christians,  and  they  will  repel  them  from  their 
communion-tables.  The  Holy  Scriptures  they 
profess  to  take  as  their  sole  guide,  and  ignore  all 
idea  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  an  interpreter  of 
divine  truth.  Hence,  they  have  no  written  creed, 
and  glory  in  the  fact,  although  they  hold  certain 
opinions  as  unquestionably  true  ;  and  it  is  hard 
for  any  one  to  see  what  is  the  difference  between 
a  spoken  and  a  written  creed.  The  creed  of  every 
man  is  what  he  believes  to  be  true  ;  and  whether 
he  writes  it  down,  or  lets  it  float  in  speech,  it  is 
none  the  less  a  creed,  although,  being  unwritten 
and  unrehearsed,  it  is  liable  to  easy  change.  What 
idea  can  you  form  of  one's  faith,  when  he  says, 
"  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  "  ?  The  argu- 
ments of  the  Baptists  are  plausible  to  a  certain 
extent  among  the  ignorant ;  and  they  beguile  — 
not  to  deny  much  knowledge  among  their  learned 
men — a  great  multitude  of  ignorant  and  really 
good  people. 

I  cannot  pretend  to  go  at  length  into  the  matters 
of  difference  between  us  and  them.  There  are  a 
great  many  good  and  satisfactory  books,  which,  if 
you  should  ever  happen  to  need,  you  can  consult. 
Among  them  I  name  one,  written  by  Dr.  Hodges, 
an  old  friend  of  mine,  entitled,  "  Baptism,  tested  by 
Scripture  and  History,"  an  argument,  in  my  judg- 
ment, unanswerable.  I  merely  touch  a  few  points. 


IO2      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 
INFANT   BAPTISM. 

They  reject  infant  baptism,  alleging  two  princi- 
pal objections :  (a)  the  Scriptures  do  not  in  so 
many  words  command  children  to  be  baptized, 
and  (b}  that  children  are  incapable  of  receiving 
any  benefit  therefrom.  Whereas,  on  the  contrary 
(as  you  will  see  more  at  length  in  the  book  re- 
ferred to),  children  are  always  treated  of  in  Scrip- 
ture as  belonging  to  the  Church.  They  were 
circumcised  into  it  under  the  Jewish  dispensation  ; 
and  when  families  and  households  were  brought 
into  the  Christian  fold,  they  were  baptized  as 
"  households."  Furthermore,  our  Lord  gave  it  as 
a  reason  why  His  disciples  should  not  bar  the 
approach  of  children  to  Himself,  that  "of  such  is 
the  Kingdom  of  God,"  which  is  the  Church  of 
God  ;  and  we  know  no  way  of  becoming  members 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  save  by  baptism.  Be- 
sides, the  comparative  silence  of  Scripture  (if 
Scripture  can  be  truly  said  to  be  silent)  in  regard 
to  this  matter  is  very  significant.  We  do  not 
commonly  say  much  about  settled  and  indispu- 
table facts.  The  relation  of  the  children  to  the 
Church  was  so  universally  recognized  as  a  fact,  a 
fact  not  disputed,  that  there  was  little  occasion 
to  refer  to  it  in  the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  Yet  there  is  just  the  mention  of  it, 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  1 03 

and  the  implication  of  its  existence  that  we  should 
expect  to  find, — the  Shepherd's  tender  care  of 
the  little  ones  of  His  fold,  His  taking  them  in 
His  arms,  His  declaring  them  "blessed,"  His 
provision  for  their  nurture  in  His  parting  in- 
junctions to  His  disciple,  "Feed  My  lambs." 
In  addition  to  this  weighty  testimony  of  Holy 
Scripture,  we  have  the  universal  custom  of  the 
Church,  not  seriously  disputed  for  centuries,  — 
a  fact  of  deep  significance  to  every  one  who 
understands  that  he  receives  the  Holy  Scriptures 
themselves  upon  the  same  testimony. 

Think  of  a  flock  of  sheep  without  any  lambs  in 
it.  It  would  be  absolutely  ludicrous,  were  it  not 
at  the  same  time  so  painful.  The  gospel  did  little 
for  the  Jews,  if  it  took  the  men  and  the  women  into 
the  Church,  and  left  the  children  out ;  and  that, 
too,  when  the  Lord  of  the  Kingdom  says  that  "of 
such  is  the  Kingdom."  Really,  to  one  acquainted 
with  all  the  grounds  of,  and  reasons  for,  infant 
baptism,  as  appearing  from  the  Scripture  alone,  it 
is  difficult  to  understand  how  a  thinking  and 
learned  man  can  be  a  Baptist.  Yet  there  are  such 
men  who  are  conscientious  Baptists.  Then,  when 
you  add  to  this  the  whole  force  of  catholic  con- 
sent through  ages,  it  becomes  a  wonder  greater 
still. 

But,  the  main  difficulty  in  the  mind  of  a  Baptist 


IO4      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER, 

is  in  the  thought  that  "  children  can  receive 
no  benefit  from  baptism."  This  difficulty  arises, 
altogether,  out  of  a  misconception  of  the  nature 
of  baptism.  The  Baptist  regards  the  sacrament 
as  involving  too  exclusively  what  man  has  to  do  in 
the  matter.  We,  on  the  contrary,  regard  it  chiefly 
as  something  that  God  does  for  man.  It  is  not 
simply  a  profession  of  one's  faith,  but  a  reception 
into  the  Kingdom,  into  the  family  of  Heaven.  Our 
birth  of  the  flesh  is  our  entrance  into  creation  :  it 
puts  us  among  God's  creatures,  in  the  great  king- 
dom of  Nature.  Whereas,  our  baptism  is  our  intro- 
duction into  God's  family,  therefore  properly  and 
significantly  styled  the  " Kingdom  of  the  Father" 
which  involves  the  idea  of  our  regeneration,  our 
new  birth,  our  second  birth,  our  adoption  and  incor- 
poration into  the  mystical  body  of  the  dear  Lord. 
Now,  we  all  admit  that  children  can  become 
citizens  of  another  kingdom  than  that  in  which 
they  were  born.  They  can  be  made  partakers  of 
all  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  in  so  far  as  minors 
can  exercise  them,  or  they  can  be  exercised  in 
their  behalf.  They  can  receive  the  benefit  of  all 
properties  given,  and  they  can  have  the  protec- 
tion of  the  law,  and  the  right  of  having  guard- 
ianship, etc. ;  in  a  word,  they  can  have  all  the 
substantial  benefits  of  citizenship,  whilst  yet  they 
are  all  unconscious.  What  man  would  reject  an 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  1 05 

inheritance  for  his  child  because  the  child  could 
not  understand  the  value  of  the  gift  ?  Further- 
more, when  they  shall  have  reached  years  of  dis- 
cretion, they  can  say  whether  they  will  confirm 
and  ratify  the  deed  of  their  parents,  and  confirm 
the  citizenship  given  them  by  their  parents,  or 
choose  another  for  themselves,  and  thus  give  a 
deep  significance  to  their  confirmation.  All  this 
the  Baptist  ignores, — honestly,  I  doubt  not,  but 
still  actually.  He  took  up  his  Bible,  and  went  to 
work  to  make  out  a  scheme  of  church  polity  for 
himself  anew,  never  sufficiently  considering  that 
,  a  Church  already  existed,  —  a  Church  that  had 
brought  to  him  the  very  Scriptures  which  he  was 
using  as  if  a  new  revelation,  not  only  separating 
himself  from  its  government  and  guidance,  but 
from  its  communion,  and  the  church-members 
from  communion  with  himself.  He  thus  created 
a  schism  in  the  body,  and  established  a  sect  in  its 
very  idea  schismatical.  If  the  Baptist  idea  of  the 
Church  be  well  founded,  then  for  centuries  Christ 
had  no  Church  on  earth ;  and  then,  of  course,  the 
Church  had  failed  ;  and  yet,  of  that  Kingdom,  there 
was  to  be  no  end. 

Such  are  the  conclusions  necessarily  and  actually 
involved  in  the  position  of  the  Baptist.  He  does 
not  sufficiently  consider  (and  in  this  he  is  not 
alone)  that  the  Church  antedates  the  written  word 


IO6      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

of  the  New  Testament ;  that  those  Scriptures 
were  written  to  meet  the  wants  of  an  existing 
Church.  The  Epistles  were  addressed  to  the 
various  churches.  The  Gospels  are  histories  of 
our  Lord's  deeds  and  words,  and  were  written 
after  the  events  which  they  record  ;  and  therefore 
it  is,  that  we  have  to  go  to  the  Catholic  Church  to 
find  out  what  is  the  Word  of  God.  These  are  very 
simple  facts,  but  unknown  to,  and  unweighed  by, 
great  numbers  of  men,  who,  in  some  other  respects, 
are  quite  intelligent,  and  well  informed. 

The  ultimate  fate  of  the  Baptist,  as  it  regards 
the  preservation  of  "  the  faith,"  it  would  be  hard, 
to  predict.  His  want  of  a  fixed  Creed  and  Liturgy 
deprives  him  of  a  great  security  against  error. 
His  congregational  character  bereaves  him  of  a 
great  deal  of  good  and  restraint  and  guidance  that 
come  from  mutual  helpfulness.  His  extravagant 
reliance  upon  individual  interpretations  of  Scrip- 
ture opens  the  way  to  an  unlimited  number  of 
sects,  between  whom  there  exists  only  the  one  tie, 
—  of  immersion  in  water,  and  infants  rejected. 
The  name  of  the  Baptist  sects  is  becoming  Legion. 
The  "  Campbcllitcs"  (or  "Disciples"  they  claim  to 
be  called)  is  one  of  their  most  prominent  off-shoots, 
as  yet  but  little  known  in  the  world  at  large,  but 
numerous  and  aggressive  wherever  they  have 
made  a  lodgement  Individualism  bursts  into  full 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  IO/ 

bloom  under  their  favoring  auspices.  Every  man 
can  be  a  preacher,  and  every  woman  if  she  claims 
the  privilege.  With  no  established  creed,  and 
unlicensed  power  to  interpret  Scripture,  there 
must  be  as  many  actual  creeds  as  there  are  diver- 
gent opinions,  with  no  protection,  that  appears, 
from  the  most  fatal  heresy.  The  atmosphere 
around  them  in  some  localities  will  keep  them 
orthodox  longer  than  their  system  would  warrant. 
My  children,  adhere  steadfastly  to  a  communion 
which  holds  a  fixed  faith,  and  breathes  it  in  every 
note  of  prayer  and  praise. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  a  word  about  what  the 
Baptists  claim  for  "  immersion."  I  feel  that  I  am 
touching  what  is  a  matter  of  small  moment  in  it- 
self ;  but  yet  I  must  recognize  it  as  having  impor- 
tance, because  so  much  is  made  of  it,  to  the 
prejudice  of  many  tender  consciences  and  weak 
minds.  To  a  Churchman,  it  can  hardly  become  a 
practical  question,  for  his  first  concern  would  be 
to  know  if  the  minister  proposing  to  baptize  him 
had  any  commission  thereto.  The  Baptists  are 
always  arguing  the  point  of  "how  to  baptize;" 
leaving  out  of  view  the  question,  "Who  is  em- 
powered to  baptize  ? "  Yet  the  matter  of  immersion 
troubles  some  people,  and  huge  volumes  of  immense 
research  have  been  evoked  by  the  water  contro- 
versy. To  me  it  appears  like  the  question,  "How 


108      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

much  wax  is  to  be  put  upon  your  seal  in  order  to 
give  validity  to  its  impress  ? "  It  tends,  moreover, 
to  withdraw  the  mind  from  the  sacramental  idea 
to  the  material  one.  It  is  a  small  matter,  it  would 
seem,  whether  the  water  goes  over  the  subject,  or 
the  subject  goes  under  the  water.  It  makes  one 
sick  to  think  how  men  can  wrangle  over  such 
questions.  They  surely  have  never  divined  the 
true  idea  of  a  Sacrament,  which  is  "the  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and  spiritual  thing." 
One  may  as  well  contend  that  one  must  eat  a  full 
meal  in  order  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  to 
argue  that  you  must  be  drenched  in  order  to  be 
baptized. 

Without  entering  at  large  into  the  question, 
which  would  take  me  quite  beyond  my  limits,  I 
content  myself  with  saying  that  the  quantity  of 
water  is  quite  an  immaterial  part  of  the  Sacra- 
ment (the  Church  manifests  her  characteristic 
wisdom  and  benignity  in  allowing  both  modes) ; 
that  the  practice  of  affusion  seems  to  have  been, 
as  I  fully  believe  it  was,  the  primitive  mode  ; 
that  there  are  accounts  in  Scripture  of  baptisms 
where  immersion  was  scarcely  possible;  that  af- 
fusion can  be  practised  everywhere,  among  all 
nations,  in  all  climes  and  localities ;  that  immer- 
sion in  some  climes  and  localities  and  seasons  is 
impracticable,  and  that,  therefore,  it  is  more 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  1 09 

reasonable  to  suppose  that  where  an  ordinance 
was  to  be  of  universal  obligation,  the  mode  of  its 
administration  would  properly  be  one  of  universal 
practicability ;  it  being  in  accord  with  the  analogy 
of  God's  dealings,  to  accommodate  the  Divine 
requirements  to  human  necessities ;  that  baptism 
being  made  (equally  with  the  Sabbath)  "for  man," 
the  mode  thereof  would  likewise  be  adapted  with 
the  same  wise  and  benignant  accommodation 
to  all  men,  in  all  climes,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances. 

Looking  at  the  whole  matter  from  this  larger 
view-point,  the  insisting  upon  a  special  mode  of 
receiving  men  into  Christ's  Kingdom,  —  which  is 
never  exactly  decorous,  as  in  the  case  of  woman  ; 
sometimes  harsh,  as  amid  the  rigors  of  winter; 
sometimes  impracticable,  as  in  countries  where 
little  water  is  to  be  found,  —  is  not  a  reasonable 
thing,  and  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  genius  of 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord.  Strange  it  is  that  some 
good,  and  reputed  great,  men  take  quite  the  oppo- 
site view.  They  see  nothing  in  the  Scripture  ac- 
counts but  immersion,  immersion :  whether  in 
the  crowded  streets  of  Jerusalem,  where  thousands 
were  unexpectedly  baptized,  or  in  the  jail  at  Phi- 
lippi  at  midnight,  they  always  imagine  full  foun- 
tains, and  overflowing  streams.  Even  in  the 
people's  flocking  to  Enon,  near  to  Salim,  "  where 


1 10      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

much  water  was,"  the  practicability  of  immersing 
is  the  first  moving  cause  to  these  brethren,  who 
seem  to  look  at  all  these  accounts  with  a  water- 
lens.  They  never  stop  to  ask,  how  little  water 
would  suffice  to  baptize  many  men?  —  a  good- 
sized  baptistery  would  suffice  —  and  how  much 
water  would  be  required  to  quench  the  thirst  of  a 
thousand  camels  upon  which  the  people  went  to 
"Enon"?  —  ten  camels  requiring  more  for  their 
satisfaction,  than  a  thousand  men  for  baptism  by 
immersion. 

The  Baptist  theory  of  essential  immersion, 
stands  out  in  the  whole  scheme  of  Redemption, 
not  grand  indeed  to  my  vision,  but  solitary  and 
peculiar,  often  harsh,  and  in  some  instances  im- 
practicable. Happily,  it  has  made  itself  exclu- 
sive. The  worst  thing  about  it  is,  that  it 
oftentimes  becomes  the  "fetich"  to  the  ignorant 
white  and  black  man.  It  satisfies  his  senses 
to  the  full.  He  is  all  over  a  Christian  when 
dipped.  In  a  great  number  of  cases,  it  ends  the 
whole  matter.  His  teachers  do  not  believe  or 
tell  him  any  such  thing,  I  am  well  assured ;  but 
the  extravagant  stress  which  they  put  upon  the 
"dipping," — a  process  which  separates  him  from 
all  other  Christians,  and  all  other  Christians  from 
him,  — naturally  produces  the  result  in  weak  and 
ignorant  people. 


THE  METHODISTS.  Ill 

THE  METHODISTS. 

THE  Methodists  constitute  a  very  large  and  in- 
fluential body  in  the  United  States,  and  exist  as  a 
denomination  in  Great  Britain  and  her  dependen- 
cies, and  have  missions  in  foreign  lands.  Their 
government  is  Episcopal,  made  so  by  the  assump- 
tion of  the  Episcopal  functions  on  the  part  of  two 
of  their  presbyters,  who  had  been  sent  out  to  the 
American  Colonies  by  John  Wesley,  the  founder 
of  the  sect.  Much  controversy  has  arisen  as  to 
the  intentions  of  John  Wesley.  There  is  evidence 
enough  to  show  that  he  did  not  intend  to  form  a 
sect  in  England,  apart  from  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, where  there  was  a  national  Church  estab- 
lished ;  and  yet,  there  is  also  evidence  to  show 
that  he  did  contemplate  the  organization  of  a  dis- 
tinct sect  in  the  American  Colonies,  although  he 
disapproved  of  the  assumption  of  the  Episcopate 
by  Coke  and  Asbury,  his  superintendents  in  the 
Colonies,  and  held  it  up  —  as  it  deserved  to  be  — 
to  ridicule  :  "  Call  me  a  knave,  dear  Franky  [Dr. 
Francis  Asbury],  but  not  a  Bishop."  Wesley  had 
the  sense  and  churchmanship  to  know  that  he,  a 
Presbyter,  could  not  make  a  Bishop.  But  Wesley's 
intentions,  whatever  they  may  be  claimed  to  be, 
or  proved  to  be,  are  of  no  moment ;  for  the  ques- 
tion is  one  of  authority^  not  of  Wesley's  intention. 


112      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

The  founders  of  Methodism  were  men  of  zeal, 
earnestness,  and  power.  They  preached  with 
unction  some  of  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel, 
and  encouraged  the  emotional  element  to  a  great 
and  enthusiastic  degree.  The  low  condition  of 
piety  in  the  Church  of  England  at  the  time 
greatly  favored  the  growth  of  the  sect.  Had  the 
English  Church  acted  with  the  wisdom  and  fore- 
cast which  have  marked  her  more  recent  adminis- 
tration, Methodism  might  have  been  utilized  and 
controlled.  The  Church  of  England  greatly  needed 
a  stimulus.  But  unwise  counsels  prevailed  ;  and 
the  Methodists,  especially  in  the  United  States, 
took  a  determinate  movement  away  from  the 
Apostolic  Church.  Wesley  himself  never  left  the 
ministry  of  the  Church. 

His  followers  very  early  took  ground  against 
domestic  slavery  ;  and  the  pressure  of  this  question 
had  divided  the  body  into  "  Methodists  North,"  and 
"  Methodists  South,"  before  the  breaking  out  of  the 
civil  war.  So  great  was  the  mutual  repulsion  on 
the  part  of  the  two  bodies  thus  divided,  that  they 
have  never  yet  been  able  to  come  together  in  legis- 
lative union,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  slavery 
—  the  original  cause  of  the  division — no  longer 
exists.  Unhappily,  the  Methodists  have  become  in 
the  Northern  States  too  much  of  a  political  power, 
and  candidates  for  the  Presidency  find  it  to  their 


THE  METHODISTS.  113 

interest  to  play  into  their  hands.  As  they  have 
gained  in  political  power,  they  seem  to  have  de- 
clined in  piety  and  religious  zeal  ( I  refer  now  to 
the  Methodist  Church  North),  and  are  gradually 
losing  some  of  their  strictest  notions  of  certain 
matters  pertaining  to  dress,  amusements,  and  the 
like,  —  the  ultimate  fate  of  all  Puritanism.  Their 
organization  is  one  of  great  power;  and  through 
their  varied  functionaries,  they  manage  to  move 
the  whole  body  of  the  Communion  by  the  will  of 
a  few  leaders.  Two  of  their  Conferences  thanked 
Congress  for  impeaching  President  Andrew  John- 
son before  his  trial  took  place.  In  some  particu- 
lars, they  are  more  like  the  Church  of  England 
and  her  daughter  in  America,  than  any  of  the 
Denominations.  They  still  retain  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  a  muti- 
lated form,  and  they  use  it  at  funerals,  marriages, 
baptisms,  and  celebrations  of  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
thus  showing,  that,  when  they  wish  to  draw  es- 
pecially near  unto  God,  they  resort  to  the  use  of 
a  form.  But  yet,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  the 
fashion  of  some  of  their  preachers  to  declaim 
vehemently  against  the  use  of  forms  in  worship. 
Such  is  man's  inconsistency.  They  cannot  be 
said  to  have  any  "distinctive  denominational 
principles,"  —  as  clo  the  Baptists,  — but  owe  their 
growth  and  extension  to  their  zeal  and  diligence, 


114      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

which  I  have  ever  admired  in  them,  and  am  glad 
to  recognize  at  all  times.  Their  founders  —  Wes- 
ley, Whitefield,  etc.  —  were  men  of  power ;  and 
they  were  all  brought  up  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  taught  by  Church  mothers  in  the  Church 
catechism,  baptized,  confirmed,  and  ordained  by 
the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  England.  Some 
years  ago,  a  party  rose  up  among  them  who  pro- 
tested against  having  Bishops,  and  claimed  that 
laymen  should  have  a  voice  in  their  legislative 
bodies.  It  is  surprising,  that,  with  the  last-named 
popular  claim  to  public  favor,  the  Protestant 
Methodists — for  such  was  their  name  —  should 
not  have  had  a  larger  following ;  but  they  have 
never  become  a  large  body ;  and  now  that  the 
Episcopal  Methodists  have  admitted  to  some  ex- 
tent lay  representation,  they  appear  to  have  lost 
much  of  their  original  prestige,  and  will  probably 
die  out. 

CONCLUSION  OF  MATTERS  PERTAINING  TO 
RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS. 

A  WORD  more  just  here  in  regard  to  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church, — the  Church  of  my  fore- 
fathers, so  far  as  any  records  go.  My  descendants 
will  find,  as  I  have  found,  that  the  Church  of  their 
forefathers  presents  to  them  all  that  man  needs 
to  enable  him  to  live  a  religious  life,  and  at  the 


RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS  CONCLUDED.      11$ 

same  time  to  maintain  that  individuality  and  free- 
dom of  thought  without  which  religion  can  have 
no  charm  and  no  enduring  power.  She  gives  us 
the  ministry  in  unbroken  line  from  Apostolic  days, 
and  the  Catholic  Creeds,  and  none  other,  as  the 
doctrinal  conditions  of  communion.  She  gives  us 
for  our  rule  of  life,  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  precepts  of  Christ.  She  leaves  it  to 
"societies  "  to  add  to  the  faith  and  the  law.  She 
provides  a  mode  of  worship,  simple,  majestic,  and 
reverential,  where  all  men's  needs  are  provided 
for,  and  the  great  and  good  God  is  worshipped  "  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness."  In  her  legislative  action, 
there  is  guaranteed,  as  far  as  human  sagacity  can 
guarantee  any  thing,  safety  and  protection  for  all 
who  come  within  the  reach  of  her  authority.  The 
constitution  and  canons  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States  are,  in  my 
judgment,  and  that  of  wiser  men  than  I  am,  the 
justest  and  most  conservative  body  of  laws  and 
canons  that  have  ever  been  framed  by  men. 
Every  order  and  estate  of  men  in  the  Church  is 
cared  for.  Class  legislation  is  impossible  under 
her  system.  Her  whole  history  has  been  marked 
by  so  much  wisdom,  moderation,  and  conserva- 
tism, that  wise,  moderate,  and  conservative  men 
have  been  drawn  to  her  by  elective  affinity. 
What  a  record  is  the  roll  of  her  children  !  Her 


Il6      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

teachings  are  specially  adapted  to  enlighten  the 
ignorant,  to  raise  up  the  lowly,  and  keep  down  the 
proud.  Hence,  the  multitude  love  to  go  where 
they  can  be  exalted.  I  desire  no  higher  honor 
than  to  have  my  name  registered  in  her  roll.  I 
ask  no  greater  security  for  my  children  than  that 
they  may  be  found  in  her  ranks.  I  have  no  higher 
ambition  than  to  be  found  at  the  last  day  among 
her  true  followers.  For  my  brethren  and  compan- 
ions' sake,  I  wish  her  prosperity.  Above  my  chief 
joy,  I  prefer  her  —  Jerusalem,  my  mother! 

Let  me  say  a  word  just  here.  There  are  some 
few  in  our  communion,  who  manifest  an  undisguised 
aversion  to  the  Protestant  character  of  our  Church. 
The  desire  to  drop  the  name  of  "  Protestant "  is 
with  some,  I  fear,  the  indication  of  this  aversion. 
If  I  thought  that  this  was  the  underlying  animus 
of  all  who  favored  the  change,  I  should  retain  the 
name  at  all  hazards ;  because  the  conflict  then 
would  be  for  principle,  and  the  name  would  be  the 
flag  around  which  every  true  son  of  the  Church 
should  rally. 

There  are  some  in  our  midst  who  decry  the 
Reformation,  and  disparage  the  great  reformers. 
I  have  only  one  word  for  them.  As  I  view  the 
matter,  they  are  not  honest  to  their  vow,  "to 
preach  the  gospel "  "as  Christ  hath  commanded  and 
this  Church  hath  received  the  same."  We  have  a 


RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS  CONCLUDED.     1 1/ 

pure  and  majestic  ritual:  let  us  not  ape  any  other 
system.  Some  scientists  think  that  men  ascended 
from  the  monkey.  I  have  not  witnessed  that  phe- 
nomenon, but  every  now  and  then  I  am  satisfied 
that  I  have  seen  a  man  descend  to  the  monkey. 
I  heard  the  Bishop  of  Sodor  and  Man  make  a 
speech  at  Wolverhampton,  England,  some  twenty 
years  ago.  He  concluded  by  saying,  "  Finally,  my 
Brethren,  beware  of  monks  and  monkeys."  For 
my  part,  I  had  rather  see  a  man  a  monk  than  a 
monkey ;  and  I  occasionally  suggest  to  some 
youthful  specimens  of  the  latter  species,  "  If  you 
don't  like  the  'Reformed  Church,'  the  'unre- 
formed '  Church  has  its  doors  open  to  receive  you. 
Go  home !  In  the  name  of  truth,  sincerity,  and 
decency,  so  far  as  in  you  lies,  be  what  you  purport 
to  be.  Use  the  language  of  the  Bible  and  of 
your  mother,  the  Church,  and  speak  not  in  dubious 
and  long  since  discarded  phraseology  of  'masses,' " 
etc.  Sometimes,  when  I  hear  of  a  certain  kind 
of  priests  bewailing  the  Reformation,  and  using 
such  phrases  as  "wretched  Latimer,"  etc.,  the 
doubt  will  rise  in  my  mind  whether  such  men 
would  not  prefer  to  have  piled  additional  fagots 
about  the  stake,  rather  than  to  have  gone  up 
with  those  glorious  martyrs  in  chariots  of  fire 
to  Paradise. 


Il8      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,   AND  SCIENTISM. 

I  HAVE  thrown  these  three  together  for  conven- 
ient handling,  and  not  at  all  to  ignore  or  confound 
the  distinctions  between  them.  Just  now  they 
seem  to  be  playing  into  each  other's  hands ;  and, 
by  their  "  flocking  together,"  they  seem  to  be  in 
some  sort  "birds  of  a  feather."  The  rampant 
spirit  of  rationalism  in  common  life,  in  the  public 
press,  and,  sad  to  say,  in  the  pulpit  and  at  the 
altar,  allies  itself  with  a  vaunting  scientism,  and 
together  they  have  engendered  a  spirit  of  scep- 
ticism, which  threatens  the  very  existence  of  faith 
itself.  Where  do  you  find  the  spirit  of  a  Newton 
and  Bacon,  accepting  alike,  with  a  childlike  mind, 
—  the  only  safe  mind,  —  the  teachings  of  Revela- 
tion and  the  conclusions  of  a  stern  inductive  phi- 
losophy ?  Bacon  truly  and  grandly  said  that  the 
entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  into  the 
realms  of  science  demanded  the  selfsame  spirit, — 
that  of  the  child. 

I  wish,  above  all  else,  for  my  children,  that  they 
shall  believe  in  Christ.  If  there  is  no  reality  in 
Christ,  then  our  life  goes  out  in  darkness  :  —  I 
leave  my  children  without  the  sun,  and  I  take  my 
leap  in  the  dark.  But  you  will  perhaps  say,  "What 
must  I  believe  ?  there  is  so  much  diversity  of  opin- 
ion :  what  is  truth  ?  "  I  answer,  Christ  is  "  The 


SCEPTICISM,  RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      119 

Truth;"  "Christianity" — a  term  not  known  to 
Revelation — is  but  vague  and  uncertain ;  "  Christ " 
is  one  and  the  same,  ''yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever: "  —  of  this  more  anon. 

If  you  take  a  superficial  view  of  the  distracted 
condition  of  Christendom,  you  will  be  tempted  at 
times  to  think  that  there  must  be  some  serious 
cause  for  uncertainty  where  there  is  so  much 
diversity  of  opinion.  Not  so  :  a  deeper  view  will 
bring  you  to  a  sounder  conclusion.  Let  me  illus- 
trate my  meaning.  Suppose,  by  way  of  illustra- 
tion, that  a  dozen  men  are  called  to  the  witness- 
stand,  to  testify  in  a  given  case.  They  all  differ 
in  their  testimony  upon  certain  points  of  evidence  ; 
but  upon  certain  other  points,  vital  and  fundamen- 
tal, as  all  confess,  they  all  agree.  What  conclu- 
sion would  you  come  to  ?  Naturally  and  reason- 
ably, I  think,  to  this  conclusion ;  viz.,  that  the 
matters  upon  which  they  are  all  agreed  are  fully 
proven,  and  not  less  fully  proven  because  of  their 
diversity  of  statement  of  certain  other  particulars ; 
indeed,  more  satisfactorily  proven  because  of  that 
diversity,  — the  diversity  going  to  show  that  there 
is  no  collusion  among  the  witnesses. 

Now,  apply  this  illustration.  Nearly  all  Christian 
people,  of  whatever  name,  are  agreed  upon  the  mat- 
ters of  faith  set  forth  in  the  Creeds  of  the  Church. 
(The  exceptions  are  so  small  as  to  be  inappreciable 


I2O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

in  a  large  and  comprehensive  view  of  Christendom.) 
Now,  these  Creeds  contain  the  vital  facts  of  the 
Christian  faith,  —  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  In- 
carnation and  Atonement  of  Christ,  and  the  Person- 
ality of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Life-Giver,  Sanctifier, 
and  Comforter.  The  truths  set  forth  in  these 
Creeds  are  so  vital  and  all-pervading,  that  a  belief 
in  them  entitles  such  believer  (so  far  as  his  faith 
is  concerned)  to  baptism  and  membership  in 
Christ.  The  Christian  peoples  affirming  this  faith 
are  divided  among  themselves  in  many  points,  — 
points  of  religious  opinion,  ritual,  polity,  and 
usages,  — but  they  are  one  in  "  the  faith."  Chris- 
tendom thus,  indeed,  presents  from  this  point 
of  view  an  undivided  front.  The  main  line  of 
the  Church  Militant  is  unbroken,  notwithstand- 
ing a  few  divisions  have  been  routed  and  scattered 
or  captured.  What,  then,  becomes  of  the  argu- 
ments used  by  infidels  and  scoffers,  that  they 
know  not  what  to  believe  in  view  of  the  divided 
condition  of  Christianity  ?  If  they  will  accept 
only  the  faith  in  which  Christendom  is  united,  and 
accept  it  as  rational  beings  should  accept  such  a 
faith,  they  will  be  good  Christians. 

Moreover,  as  it  regards  morals,  all  Christians  are 
united  in  accepting  the  law  of  God,  interpreted  by 
Christ,  as  the  rule  of  a  Christian  man's  life.  Let 
any  man  live  up  to  those  precepts  of  Christ,  which 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      121 

all  Christendom  accepts,  and  he  will  live  a  godly 
and  Christian  life.  How  strong,  then,  and  hitherto 
unassailable,  is  the  line  held  by  the  Church  Mil- 
itant, —  "  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  peo- 
ple." I  might  pause  here  to  note  how  weak, 
lamentable,  foolish,  and  wicked  a  thing  it  is  for 
any  Christian  man  to  do  any  thing  to  weaken  the 
strength  of  this  line  by  needless  and  ambitious 
divisions,  but  this  is  aside  from  my  present  pur- 
pose. 

Infidelity,  in  every  age  of  the  world,  has 
planted  itself  for  the  overthrow  of  Christianity  — 
as  yet,  without  any  serious  break  of  the  line  of 
Christian  truth.  Every  argument  that  the  wit 
of  man  and  the  malice  of  the  Adversary  could 
devise  has  been  levelled  against  it,  so  far  without 
success.  Every  new  discovery  in  science  has 
been  peered  into  to  find  a  weapon  with  which  to 
attack  the  intrenchments.  The  heavens  have 
been  scaled,  the  ocean  sounded,  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  have  been  ransacked,  with  this  same  hos- 
tile intent.  Jews,  Turks,  infidels,  heretics,  and 
scientists  have  made  common  cause  against  that 
system  which  will  yield  to  none,  and  would  fain 
save  all.  Yet  the  faith  still  survives  and  triumphs. 
A  wonderful  and  sublime  spectacle  it  is  indeed, 
inspiring  and  strengthening  the  faith  of  all  who 
declare  that  of  "  this  Kingdom  there  shall  be  no 


122      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

end."  Modern  scientism,  with  the  same  intent, 
has  gone  to  work,  with  a  diligence,  eloquence,  and 
research  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  to  batter  down 
the  walls  hitherto  impregnable.  Its  highest 
achievements,  were  it  to  accomplish  its  purpose, 
would  be  to  deprive  man  of  God's  Fatherhood, 
quench  the  light  of  revealed  truth,  destroy  all 
hope  of  immortality,  and  range  the  race  of  men 
among  the  brute  creation,  —  an  animal  only  of  a 
higher  order. 

It  is  a  matter  of  profound  interest  to  inquire 
whence  this  spirit  was  evoked  which  would  bring 
such  a  blight  upon  the  fair  creation.  If  it  were 
the  necessary  conclusion  of  science,  which  it  is 
not,  one  would  think  it  would  be  reached  at  least 
with  a  sigh  or  a  moan.  But  there  are  men  who 
can  render  the  whole  world  Fatherless  without  a 
sigh ;  extinguish  every  hope  beyond  the  grave 
without  a  pang ;  and  dissolve  the  faith  of  cen- 
turies without  a  tear,  alas !  I  have  no  quarrel 
with  science.  Christianity  has  none.  Her  sphere 
never  traverses  the  orbit  in  which  science  has  its 
being.  Science,  truly  so  called,  is  the  handmaid 
of  revealed  truth.  It  is  the  opposition  of  science, 
falsely  so  called,  which  we  have  to  encounter. 
Where  science  stops,  having  reached  its  uttermost 
verge,  and  finds  forces  and  powers  which  elude 
investigation,  and  baffle  all  inquiry,  there  revela- 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      12$ 

tion  begins,  and  discloses  to  faith  the  Divine 
Fatherhood  in  the  Great  Creator,  in  Whom  all 
things  live,  move,  and  have  their  being.  The 
present  favorite  theory  of  what  are  called  advanced 
scientists,  is  that  of  evolution,  not  development, 
which  latter  is  always  in  manifest  working.  Under 
this  theory  of  evolution,  not  only  the  lower  crea- 
tion, but  man  himself,  mind  and  all,  is  the  product 
of  endless  series  of  growth  from  an  original  germ 
—  they  call  it  "Protoplasm."  There  would  be  no 
serious  objection  to  this  theory,  if  it  had  any 
adequate  proof  to  sustain  it  ;  but  so  far,  it  is 
announced  and  heralded  without  sufficient  creden- 
tials. No  scientific  theory  can  claim  our  accept- 
ance until  it  has  received  what  we  may  call 
"catholic  consent."  The  same  rule,  you  will  ob- 
serve, holds  in  regard  to  scientific  truth  as  to 
revealed  truth.  The  theory  of  evolution  has  not 
received  universal  acceptance,  even  among  scien- 
tific men.  Astronomy  is  a  science,  —  has  its  fixed 
laws,  and  prevails  by  catholic  consent.  It  is  not 
yet  so  with  evolution  :  it  is  still  under  trial  and 
investigation.  The  scientist,  as  does  the  secta- 
rian, flies  off  from  the  catholic  system,  and  attaches 
himself  to  a  "school"  of  thought.  Like  the  sect- 
ist,  he  parades  his  individuality,  and  founds  a  sect 
in  philosophy.  Meanwhile,  you  can  afford  to  wait 
for  the  conclusions  of  science.  Receive  them  as 


124      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

true,  and  adjust  yourselves  to  their  logical  re- 
quirements. If  the  theory  were  true,  they  have 
only  removed  the  difficulty  a  step  farther  back. 
They  have  not  quit  themselves  of  the  necessity  of 
an  original  creator.  For  whether  the  Creator,  by 
virtue  of  His  omnipotent  power,  created  all  things 
after  the  genera  in  which  they  now  exist,  or  cre- 
ated the  original  material,  out  of  which  all  things 
were  successively  evolved,  there  is  equally  a 
necessity  for  an  original  creative  act.  Therefore, 
evolution,  if  it  were  true  as  a  theory,  and  proved 
to  be  true  by  induction,  could  not  affect  the  truth 
of  the  being  of  a  God,  — the  first  truth  in  natural 
as  in  revealed  religion.  Therefore,  in  so  far  forth 
as  the  existence  of  a  God  is  concerned,  they,  the 
theorists,  may  safely  go  on  with  their  theories ; 
but  they  will  ever  find,  and  find  it  pretty  soon,  a 
force,  a  life,  or  whatever  they  may  choose  to  call 
it,  permeating  all  things,  explaining  all  things, — 
itself  inexplicable.  They  call  it  "  the  '  unknow- 
able?" They  have  reached  the  end  of  their  line  : 
it  has  run  itself  out,  but  they  have  not  touched 
bottom.  Yet  they  vaunt  themselves  upon  having 
found  the  unknowable.  One  would  think  they 
would  be  touched  with  something  of  humility  and 
reverence,  but  I  have  failed  to  see  that  spirit ; 
rather  that  of  vanity  —  strange  that  man's  vanity 
should  be  inflated  by  the  discovery  of  his  igno- 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      12$ 

ranee !  Practically,  however,  the  theories  of  the 
modern  scientist  have  tended,  in  a  great  many 
minds,  to  obliterate  the  sense  of  a  God,  and  to 
diminish  faith  in  all  Divine  revelation.  This  is  its 
practical  outcome  among  great  numbers,  showing, 
I  think,  how  easily  people  will  become  credulous 
when  they  have  no  faith  :  having  not  the  truth, 
they  will  clutch  at  its  caricature.  I  have  read 
much  of  the  writings  of  these  men.  They  seem 
to  be  what  we  would  call  smart  men  :  they  do 
not  strike  me  as  profound  men.  They  do  not  im- 
press me  as  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  Shakspeare 
and  Bacon  impress  me.  They  seem,  in  compari- 
son, to  theorize  and  chatter.  I  have  great  sympa- 
thy with  a  modern  writer  who  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "  I  am  content  to  find  my  ancestors  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden.  Let  those  who  prefer  otherwise, 
seek  theirs  in  the  '  Zoological  Gardens.' >:  But  one 
thing  they  do ;  and  for  that,  all  good  and  true  men 
must  hold  them  accountable,  if  at  no  other  bar, 
at  the  bar  of  decorum  and  reason.  Their  influ- 
ence goes  to  destroy  alike  the  sense  of  God,  and 
to  lower  the  dignity  and  responsibility  of  man. 
The  revealed  Word  —  which  I  cannot  throw  away 
for  the  sake  of  an  unproven  theory  —  the  revealed 
Word,  I  say,  proclaims  that  at  creation,  God  made 
man,  and  made  him  as  He  made  nothing  else; 
did  not  evolve  him  by  gradual  processes  from 


126      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

lowest  germs,  but  made  him  after  His  own  image, 
and  endowed  him  after  His  own  likeness.  I  can- 
not throw  away  that  truth,  with  all  that  it  involves 
of  human  dignity  and  possible  immortality,  for  an 
undemonstrated  theory.  Surely,  what  St.  Paul 
said  of  the  heathen  of  his  day,  is  true  of  the  hea- 
then now  in  the  midst  of  Christianity:  "they  did 
not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge."  O 
my  children  !  Come  not  ye  into  their  assembly ; 
unite  not  your  honor  to  such  as  these!  These 
men  are  not  blessing  their  race  by  any  moral 
earnestness.  They  are  not  founding  your  homes 
for  the  destitute,  the  widow,  and  the  fatherless. 
They  are  prating  ;  — "  ever  learning,  and  never 
able  to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth."  Learn 
the  principles  of  science  (as  Newton  and  Bacon 
taught  them),  and  you  will  never  be  beguiled  by 
the  fallacies  of  scientism. 

Evolutionists  of  the  most  advanced  school  tell 
us  that  man,  starting  from  the  simplest  forms  of 
matter,  —  mind  itself  being  but  "  a  mode  of  brain- 
motion," —  and  evolving  by  gradual  processes,  is 
moving  on  to  perfection ;  that  thus,  finally,  all 
evils  will  be  rectified,  all  disorders  adjusted,  all 
rights  recognized,  and  the  regeneration  of  society 
fully  accomplished.  The  antagonisms  and  discon- 
tent of  the  laboring  classes,  the  struggles  of  woman 
for  what  she  claims  as  her  rightful  co-ordination  in 


SCEPTICISM,  RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      I2/ 

human  affairs,  etc., — all  these  are  triumphantly 
pointed  to  as  indications  of  the  progress  of  society 
to  its  perfect  consummation.  In  all  such  prognos- 
tications, the  influence  of  the  Christian  religion  is 
by  some  disparaged,  by  some  ignored,  and  by 
others  utterly  repudiated  as  a  superstition,  barring 
the  way  to  a  more  rapid  progress.  These  men 
glory  in  the  fact  that  they  have  nothing  to  do 
with  any  thing  save  "phenomena;"  and  by  that 
expression,  they  mean  the  phenomena  of  the 
material  world,  counting  nothing  real  save  that 
which  is  material. 

Yet  there  are  phenomena  in  the  world  of  mind 
which  cannot  rationally  be  ignored,  and  which 
must  be  considered,  classified,  and  explained. 
There  are  questions  which  force  themselves  upon 
the  mind,  and  which  must  be  answered  in  some 
way.  They  demand  an  answer.  Such  a  question 
is  this,  for  example,  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ? 
whose  Son  is  He  ?  "  It  will  not  do  to  say  that 
this  question  is  irrelevant  to  the  scientific  mind. 
He  stands  face  to  face  with  this  undeniable  and 
pregnant  fact,  that,  only  in  those  parts  of  the 
earth  where  the  Christian  religion  prevails,  is 
there  any  marked  advancement,  even  in  science 
and  in  the  industries  and  arts  of  life  ;  and  that  the 
only  heathen  nations  which  are  now  manifesting 
signs  of  awakening  life  —  as  China  and  Japan  —  are 


128      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

those  which  have  felt  the  quickening  influences  of 
contact  with  Christian  peoples.  This  question, 
and  other  questions  of  similar  import,  cannot  be 
contemptuously  thrust  aside,  and  relegated  to  the 
"domain  of  metaphysical  investigation."  They 
are  matters  of  fact  —  as  much  so  as  any  in  the 
domain  of  physics ;  and  are  quite  as  worthy  of 
observation  as  the  anatomy  and  habits  of  bugs 
and  reptiles.  The  indifference  of  some  so-called 
wise  men  to  the  study  of  "final  causes  "  is  to  me 
an  astounding  phenomenon,  and  causes  one  often 
to  doubt  whether  every  man  is  indeed  a  truly 
rational  being.  I  met  with  a  disciple  of  this 
school  some  time  ago.  Such  men  abound  nowa- 
days ;  —  smart  indeed,  but  not  very  profound ; 
dealing  with  the  surface  of  questions,  and  con- 
temptuously ignoring  all  consideration  of  the  final 
causes  of  things  visible  or  invisible.  We  fell 
into  discourse  upon  religious  matters.  I  urged 
upon  him  the  importance  of  considering  such 
matters  :  he  replied  that  he  "  had  no  faith  what- 
ever in  Christianity  ;  that  he  had  read  volume  upon 
volume  on  Christian  evidences,  but  they  had  made 
no  impression  on  his  mind ; "  and  concluded  by 
saying  "  that  it  was  not  worth  while  for  us  to 
argue  the  matter,  because  there  was  no  common 
ground  from  which  we  could  start."  I  then 
asked  him  "if  he  did  not  think  it  the  duty  of 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,   SCIENTISM.      129 

every  man  to  try  to  bring  himself,  by  culture 
and  labor,  to  his  highest  possible  perfection  ?  "  — 
"Unquestionably,"  he  replied.  "Well,  then,"  said 
I,  "here  is  a  ground  we  can  both  start  from. 
Now,  in  the  effort  to  bring  your  character  to  its 
highest  perfection,  must  you  not  have  some  rule, 
standard,  or  model  by  which  to  work  ?  The 
artist  who  wishes  to  make  a  representation  of 
some  object  in  nature,  say  a  tree,  or  horse, 
seeks  out  the  best  specimen  of  such  object,  and 
aims  to  reproduce  it,  does  he  not  ?  "  —"Yes,"  he 
said,  "assuredly."  —  "Then,"  I  urged,  "in  trying 
to  bring  yourself  up  to  your  highest  capability, 
would  you  not,  for  like  reason,  cast  about  you  for 
the  best  specimen  of  human  character,  in  order 
that  you  might  have  the  advantage  of  a  model  to 
work  by  ?  You  would  not  reasonably  look  within 
yourself  for  the  ideal  man.  The  effort  to  make 
yourself  a  better  man  implies,  that,  as  yet,  you 
know  yourself  to  be  an  imperfect  one  :  in  making 
yourself  the  ideal,  you  would  be  only  repeating 
and  reproducing  yourself,  would  you  not  ? "  — 
"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  would  not  look  to  myself.  I 
would  take  some  better  specimen  than  myself  for 
a  model :  I  would  properly  take  the  best  mortal 
that  I  knew,  and  try  to  imitate  his  virtues."  — 
"Now,"  I  urged,  "who  is  the  best  man  that 
ever  lived?"  —  "I  know  of  but  one  man  without 


I3O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

sin,"  he  very  reverently  said.  "Who  was  that 
man?"  —  "Jesus  Christ."  —  "Then,  does  it  not 
follow  from  what  you  have  admitted,  that,  in  the 
effort  to  perfect  your  character,  you  should  set 
before  you  for  imitation  Jesus  Christ  ?  "  —  "I  see 
no  way  of  evading  the  conclusion,"  he  admitted ; 
"but  I  did  not  anticipate  reaching  such  a  con- 
clusion." There  is  no  way  by  which  the  above 
conclusion  can  be  evaded,  save  by  denying  the 
supreme  excellence  of  Christ;  and  to  this  depth 
the  dreariest  infidelity  has  rarely  fallen.  Surely, 
the  man  of  science,  the  sociologist,  the  philan- 
thropist, can  join  in  with  the  devout  believer,  in 
his  most  exalted  mood,  and  all  with  one  acclaim 
crown  Him  the  Christ,  Chief  of  all,  "the  One 
among  ten  thousand,  the  One  altogether  lovely." 

In  this  connection,  let  me  further  press  the 
point,  viz.,  that  the  scientists,  even  from  their 
stand-point,  are  bound  to  meet  the  great  question 
of  questions,  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  whose 
Son  is  He  ? "  For  if  it  be  true,  as  they  affirm, 
that  man  has  been  evolved  from  lowest  forms  of 
matter,  and  is  to  ascend,  by  continued  evolution, 
to  his  highest  perfection,  how  did  it  happen  that 
the  most  perfect  specimen  of  manhood  appeared 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  ?  —  assuredly 
not  the  most  advanced  era  in  history.  According 
to  the  accepted  system  of  the  philosophers  of  this 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.       131 

school,  Christ  should  have  appeared  at  the  cul- 
minating point  in  evolution,  and  not  at  the  in- 
auguration of  His  era.  How  came  He  to  antedate 
the  final  consummation  ?  He  has  certainly  done 
so.  Every  advancement  in  morals  and  social  order 
at  the  present  day  is  but  an  approximation  — as  yet, 
faint  indeed  —  to  the  style  of  human  life  which  He 
set  forth  in  His  teachings,  and  exemplified  in  per- 
son. All  the  beneficence  of  this,  the  most  benefi- 
cent age  of  the  world,  in  its  care  for  the  diseased, 
the  destitute,  and  the  outcast,  finds  its  spirit  and 
impersonation  in  Him  Who  "went  about  doing 
good."  He  is  the  luminous  point  in  all  history. 
His  influence  is  the  greatest  known.  His  birth 
constituted  a  new  era  in  time.  All  that  man  in 
the  times  before  Him  knew  of  the  rights  and 
humanities  of  life  was  in  Christ  renewed,  enlarged, 
illuminated  ;  with  much  added  that  they  knew  not 
of.  All  that  man  has  truly  taught  since,  and  is  now 
truly  teaching,  of  the  relative  duties  of  life,  can  be 
found  in  His  precepts,  and  exemplified  in  His 
sublime  life.  The  observance  by  all  men  of  the 
Christian  rule  of  life  would  bring  about  confess- 
edly a  millennial  age.  Prophets  converge  in 
Him.  Apostles  radiate  from  Him.  At  this  hour, 
the  better  part  of  the  world,  as  it  moves  on 
and  forward,  looks  back  to  Him  for  guidance, 
as  oarsmen,  propelling  the  boat,  ever  look  back, 


132      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

as  they  row,  to  their  helmsman.  When  human 
nature  shall  have  reached  its  possible  perfection, 
it  will  be  because  it  has  been  more  and  more 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Wars  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  jealousies  of  caste,  social 
antagonisms,  and  all  wrongs,  will  cease  when  men 
shall  be  like  Christ,  when  the  laws  of  trade  shall 
be  superseded  by  the  law  of  love,  and  every  man 
shall  "love  his  neighbor  as  himself."  "Love 
worketh  no  ill;  therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law."  Now  let  the  men  of  science  answer 
the  question  concerning  Christ,  "  Whose  Son  is 
He  ?  "  They  cannot  answer  it  from  their  stand- 
point. Their  doctrine  of  heredity  furnishes  no 
clew  to  His  parentage.  From  what  they  know, 
they  must  let  that  question  rest  in  still  silence. 

But  take  the  Christian  view,  —  that,  not  by 
natural  generation,  but  by  a  supernatural  incarna- 
tion—  the  Word  of  God  becoming  flesh  —  He,  the 
Son  of  God  —  that  is  His  heredity  —  came  among 
men, — then  all  these  questions,  which  cannot 
otherwise  be  explained,  are  fully  answered.  St. 
Philip  said  to  the  Master,  "  Lord,  show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sufficeth."  Yes,  it  sufftceth,  — 
it  covers  the  whole  area  of  human  need.  The 
cry  of  Philip  is  the  cry  of  suffering  humanity, 
"  Show  us  the  Father."  The  answer  which  came 
from  Christ  responsive  to  this  cry,  is  the  crown- 


SCEPTICISM,  RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      133 

ing  knowledge  to  poor,  struggling,  and  weary 
men.  "  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and 
yet  hast  thou  not  known  Me,  Philip  ? "  "  He 
that  hath  seen  Me,  hath  seen  the  Father." 
Would  you,  my  children,  become  acquainted  with 
God,  your  Father,  and  be  at  peace  ?  then  study 
Him,  not  only  in  the  realm  of  nature,  where  He 
so  gloriously  manifests  His  power  and  wisdom, 
but  seek  to  know  Him  as  mirrored  in  His  only 
begotten  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  —  the 
"Brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  —  the  express 
Image  of  His  Person." 

Let  nothing  shake  your  faith  in  this  foundation, 
which  is  elect  and  precious,  —  which  has  stayed 
the  hopes  of  millions  in  past  ages,  and  affords 
the  only  refuge  and  footing  for  the  generations 
to  come. 

"Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  vain  words." 
Let  no  pretensions  to  profoundness  in  the  smart 
men  of  the  age  for  a  moment  beguile  you.  I  have 
ever  found  profound  men  to  be  men  of  faith. 
They  see  deep  enough  to  know  that  behind  and 
below  all  physical  phenomena,  there  is  a  great, 
first,  and  intelligent  Cause,  in  whom  all  things 
live,  move,  and  have  their  being.  "  He  that 
formed  the  eye,  shall  not  He  see  ? "  Such  men, 
instead  of  staggering  at  the  mysteries  of  Revela- 
tion, accept  them,  in  childlike  faith,  as  the  crown- 


134      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

ing  proof  of  the  exceeding  love  and  graciousness 
of  the  Father,  Who  did  not  create  a  world  in  which 
He  could  not  send  His  Word  to  His  children  — 
ay,  more,  send  Him  to  take  upon  Himself  their 
nature,  to  talk  with  them,  and  tell  them  of  duty 
and  danger,  how  to  live  and  how  to  die,  and  thus 
how  at  last  to  find  their  way  home  to  the  Father's 
house,  that  they  might  dwell  with  Him  forever. 
What  a  contemptible  and  dreary  conception  of 
the  great  and  good  Creator  must  they  have,  who 
cannot  reckon  it  possible  that  He  can  guide  and 
bless  His  children,  hear  their  prayers  when  they 
cry  unto  Him !  A  wise  man  would  not  make  a 
machine  which  he  could  not  guide  and  control 
according  to  his  will.  But  I  must  close  this  long 
letter  to  you,  my  dear  children.  You  will  read 
these  lines  when  I  shall  have  passed  away  from 
your  companionship,  and  shall  have  solved  for 
myself  the  mystery  of  life  and  death.  I  end  with 
an  extract  from  my  last  will  and  testament,  written 
before  these  lines  were  written.  Speaking  of  my 
children  and  grandchildren,  I  write,  — 

"  I  leave  them  my  love  and  benediction.  I  ask 
of  our  Father  for  them  no  earthly  honors  or  emolu- 
ments. He  will  give  them  'food  and  raiment,'  and 
'godliness  with  contentment,'  if  they  'seek  first 
His  kingdom  and  His  righteousness ; '  but  I  do, 
with  all  my  heart  and  soul,  desire  that  they  may 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,   SCIENTISM.      135 

have  a  good  and  well-grounded  interest  in  the 
Divine  love  and  favor  covenanted  to  them  in 
Christ  Jesus,  our  most  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour. 
I  exhort  them  to  reverence,  and  to  cling  to  the 
traditions  of  their  house,  and  to  be  ever  loyal  to 
that  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  which 
they  received  their  baptism  and  nurture.  I  feel 
assured,  that,  though  absent  from  them  in  the 
body,  I  shall  be  ever  near  them  to  the  latest 
generations.  I  love  them,  and  desire  their  wel- 
fare beyond  all  power  of  expression.  '  Fear  God, 
and  keep  His  commandments ;  for  this  is  the 
whole  duty  of  man.' 

"Avoid  debt,  my  children,  for  debt  brings  with 
it  a  multitude  of  ills.  'Owe  no  man  any  thing, 
but  to  love  ; '  and  this  debt  of  love,  which  we 
must  owe  to  our  fellow-men,  is  a  most  precious 
obligation,  and  the  constant  recognition  of  it  in 
deeds  of  kindness  gives  a  flavor  to  the  whole 
life. 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  live  luxuriously,  nor 
even  to  live  comfortably ;  but  there  is  a  deep 
necessity  that  you  should  live  honestly. 

"  The  Lord  of  life  gives  us  the  true  philosophy 
of  life.  'A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the 
abundance  of  things  which  he  possesseth.'  One 
of  His  chief  Apostles,  who  had  learned  from  the 
Master  this  lesson  of  life,  has  left  behind  him  this 


136      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

record  of  himself  —  and  what  a  record  it  is  of  the 
battle  of  life  well  fought  and  gloriously  won  !  — 
'  I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  there- 
with to  be  content.' 

"  I  would  rather  be  assured  of  your  having 
gained  this  height  of  self-abnegation  and  faith, 
than  to  know  that  you  would  outrank  in  wealth 
the  millionnaires  of  this  generation.  Worldly 
wealth  is  of  time,  and  passes  away  with  time. 
'  Godliness,  with  contentment,  is  great  gain : '  it 
is  treasure  laid  up  in  heaven,  beyond  the  reach  of 
time,  chance,  or  change. 

"  You  will  hear  ofttimes  that  this  or  that  pas- 
sion is  the  root  of  all  evil.  The  divine  Word,  with 
which  a  large  view  of  life  always  tallies,  declares 
that  '  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  [forms 
or  descriptions  of]  evil.'  It  is  pre-eminently  the 
root  of  present  existing  evil.  Now,  whilst  I  am 
writing  these  lines,  our  people  are  in  a  craze. 
The  spirit  of  speculation  has  made  some  wise 
men  mad.  Some  will  become  rich  ;  many  more 
poor ;  the  great  mass  of  both  rich  and  poor 
demoralized.  This  speculative  spirit  not  only 
runs  counter  to  the  Christian  code,  it  is  in  the 
long-run  disastrous  in  a  prudential  point  of  view. 
The  difference  between  legitimate,  wholesome 
business  and  speculative  trade  is  essentially  this : 
in  the  one,  all  are  profited,  —  the  producer,  the 


SCEPTICISM,   RATIONALISM,  SCIENTISM.      137 

intermediary,  and  the  consumer;  in  the  other,  the 
success  of  one  is  at  the  loss  of  his  neighbor. 
This  state  of  things  is  not  only  irreligious,  but 
unwholesome.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  gambling. 
Under  its  baleful  influence,  I  see  men  all  around 
me  going  down  with  a  run,  —  '  erring  from  the 
faith,'  '  falling  into  snares,'  and  '  piercing  them- 
selves through  with  many  sorrows.' 

" '  Thou,  O  man  of  God,  flee  these  things,  and 
follow  after  righteousness.  So  shalt  thou  find 
peace  at  the  last  !  '  One  approving  look  of 
the  dear  Lord,  one  gracious  word  of  His,  is  of 
more  value  than  all  the  honors  and  riches  of  the 
universe.  As  I  stand  at  this  moment  on  the 
border,  and  look  back  and  forward,  these  truths, 
taught  me  in  childhood,  and  impressed  upon  me 
by  all  my  observation  and  experience  of  life,  as- 
sume great  distinctness.  That  only  will  survive 
all  change  and  decay  which  links  one  in  with  eter- 
nity, and  is  as  imperishable  as  the  soul,  —  even 
the  'faith  in  Christ  which  worketh  by  love,  which 
purifieth  the  heart,  which  giveth  peace  with  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.' 

"  My  father  gave  his  life  to  the  sacred  ministry. 
Of  course,  he  left  no  money  to  his  children.  He 
left,  however,  an  unsullied  name,  and  the  record 
of  a  useful  and  honorable  life,  —  a  priceless  heri- 
tage indeed.  He  left  for  the  guidance  of  his  chil- 


138      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

dren,  among  a  thousand-fold  suggestions,  three 
special  admonitions.  I  have  tried  to  heed  them, 
and  I  transmit  them  now  for  your  guidance  :  — 

"  'Owe  no  man  any  thing,  but  to  love.' 

"  'Be  indifferent  to  the  judgment  of  man  :  seek 
only  to  do  what  is  right,  and  let  your  life  speak 
for  itself.' 

"  '  Be  careful  not  to  make  issues :  but,  having 
made  them,  maintain  them  at  all  hazard  to  the 
end.' 

"  Now  unto  the  gracious  mercy  and  protection 
of  the  good  and  great  Creator,  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  commend  you,  my 
children,  now  and  evermore.  Amen." 


INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER.      139 


POST-BELLUM  REMINISCENCES. 

IT  has  occurred  to  me  that  the  incidents  re- 
corded below  might  afford  my  children  some  valu- 
able information  and  entertainment.  They  throw 
some  light  on  this  part  of  our  country's  history, 
and,  I  think,  should  see  the  light. 

INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER. 

JUST  after  the  civil  war,  which  reduced  the 
State  of  Alabama  to  the  condition  of  a  military 
province,  your  grandfather  became  the  object  of 
a  military  order  which  closed  the  churches  of  his 
diocese,  and  subjected  him  to  a  notoriety  which  he 
neither  desired  nor  anticipated.  It  is  a  long  story, 
with  which  I  will  not  burden  these  pages.  You 
will  find  in  the  journals  of  my  diocese  a  very  full 
statement  of  the  whole  matter.  You  will  also 
find  a  brief  synoptical  view  in  the  "  Centennial 
History  of  the  Church  in  America."  Let  it  suf- 
fice for  me  to  say,  that  even  at  this  hour,  as  I 
stand  upon  the  border  of  time,  there  is  not  a  word 
put  down  in  the  history  of  those  events  which  I 
regret  or  would  recall.  I  have  in  this  matter  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God  and 
man. 

I  give   you  here  the   briefest   outline.     When 


I4O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

the  war  ended,  I  found  the  civil  government  of  the 
State  subverted,  her  constitution  abrogated,  her 
governor  deposed,  and  held  under  duress,  her 
whole  civil  power  annihilated,  the  drumhead  the 
only  tribunal  of  justice. 

The  first  practical  question  that  pressed  upon 
me  for  decision  was  that  relating  to  the  use  of 
the  "  Prayer  for  all  those  in  Civil  Authority,"  as 
formulated  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  I 
looked  around,  and  found  no  vestige  of  any  such 
authority.  I  was  under  no  ecclesiastical  obliga- 
tion to  use  the  prayer  as  it  stood  in  the  prayer- 
book  ;  for  when  I  was  consecrated  a  bishop,  I  had 
made  a  "Declaration  of  Conformity"  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Church  in  the  Confederate  States. 

Some  of  the  generals  of  the  Federal  army  were 
kind  enough  to  step  forward,  and  attempt  to 
solve  all  my  doubts  upon  the  question ;  but  they 
did  not  succeed  in  settling  my  difficulty.  Prayer 
ought  to  be  a  very  real  and  sincere  thing ;  and  I 
could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  send  up  a  prayer 
to  Heaven  for  a  blessing  on  what  had  no  exist- 
ence, nor  could  I  make  up  my  mind  to  pray  under 
dictation.  But  I  was  bound  by  a  higher  obliga- 
tion than  any  which  man  can  impose,  to  pray 
for  our  rulers  of  whatever  sort.  The  fact  that 
they  were  holding  us  in  slavish  subjection  did  not 
release  us  from  that  obligation.  Nor  did  we  de- 


INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER.      141 

sire  any  such  release.  The  fact  that  they  had 
abrogated  all  the  sanctions  of  our  former  legisla- 
tive, judicial,  and  executive  government,  only  in- 
creased the  necessity  for  more  earnest  prayers 
unto  God  that  He  would  give  grace  to  these  sol- 
diers who  held  us  under  the  bayonet,  to  "  execute 
justice,  and  maintain  truth."  But  when  it  came 
to  ask  the  Almighty  to  give  "  health,  prosperity, 
and  long  life  "  to  the  commander-in-chief  of  this 
body  of  men,  who  had  settled  down  upon  our 
whole  country,  and  when  officers  with  swords  at 
their  sides  came  to  demand  it,  I,  for  one,  had  no 
doubt  or  misgiving  as  to  what  course  I  should  pur- 
sue. I  wish  that  some  of  my  brethren  who  will 
not  consent  to  catholicize  our  prayers  —  the 
prayer  for  the  President  is  the  one  uncatholic  spot 
in  our  regular  liturgy  —  could  have  seen  the  ne- 
cessity as  I  then  saw  it.  The  wording  of  this 
prayer  will  have  to  be  changed.  The  troubles  in 
this  country  have  not  ended.  We  will  have  to  go 
through  all  the  diseases  incident  to  a  nation's 
childhood.  We  will  have  —  we  have  already 
nearly  had  —  rival  Presidents-elect.  It  may  be  we 
shall  have  a  President  of  Knights  of  Labor,  with 
men  of  brawn  and  muscle  to  make  good  their 
pretensions.  Then  will  come  the  strain ;  then 
timid  people  will  palter  with  the  Almighty  in  a 
double  sense ;  then  feeble  brethren,  at  the  nod  of 


142      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

a  soldier,  will  wing  heavenward  their  extorted  little 
prayers  (which  are  insults  to  Heaven),  with  pro- 
tests attached  to  them.  I  have  known  that  to  be 
done,  and  it  may  happen  again. 

He  studies  history  to  little  purpose  who  does 
not  now  provide  for  all  the  contingencies  likely  to 
arise  in  the  course  of  events.  What  endless 
troubles  came  upon  the  people  of  England  during 
the  usurpation  of  Cromwell.  The  loyal  men  of 
the  realm  felt  bound  in  conscience  to  pray  for  the 
king ;  and  the  powers  that  were  forbade  it,  and 
sent  the  offenders  to  prison  or  into  exile.  A  state 
of  things  may  exist  in  this  country,  when  a  rude 
soldier  shall  step  up  to  the  officiating  minister,  and 
demand  to  know  which  President  of  the  United 
States  he  refers  to  in  his  prayer ;  and  it  may  even 
happen  that  one  clergyman  may  be  praying  in  one 
church  for  one  President,  and  another  in  a  neigh- 
boring church  may  be  invoking  long  life  and  pros- 
perity upon  another  claimant  to  the  office.  He 
has  read  history  very  superficially  who  does  not 
recognize  the  possibility  of  all  that  I  have  sup- 
posed. 

Situated  as  I  was  after  the  war  of  the  States, 
with  no  existing  civil  authority  over  me,  I  was  vir- 
tually ordered  to  "pray  for  the  dead"  with  but 
slight  hope  of  any  present  resurrection.  They 
who  mean  nothing  by  their  prayers  can  easily 


INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER.      143 

pray  for  any  thing  or  nothing.  "Why  do  you 
curse  so  ? "  said  an  acquaintance  :  "you  offend  me 
by  your  profanity."  —  "  Ah,  well ! "  was  the  reply, 
"you  pray  a  good  deal,  and  I  curse  a  good  deal, 
but  the  Lord  knows  that  neither  of  us  means  any 
thing  by  it." 

But  this  is  aside.  In  the  state  of  things  above 
described,  I  issued  a  pastoral  letter  to  my  clergy, 
and  told  them  that  "the  prayer  for  all  those  in 
civil  authority"  was  out  of  place  and  utterly  in- 
congruous under  the  present  state  of  affairs  ;  that, 
whilst  bound  ever  to  pray  for  our  rulers,  there  was 
a  manifest  incongruity  in  the  prayer-book  form  of 
prayer  for  rulers  which  made  it  inapplicable  to 
our  people  in  their  then  condition  ;  that  it  was 
not  a  question  of  loyalty,  but  of  congruity,  and  a 
question  to  be  settled  by  none  but  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority.  The  clergy  fell  into  line  to  a  man. 

Hearing  that  there  were  troubles  brewing  in 
Mobile,  —  I  had  refugeed  in  Greensborough,  —  I 
went  there  at  once.  I  had  been  in  the  city  but  a 
few  hours,  when  a  servant  came  to  my  room,  and 
told  me  that  an  officer  had  called  to  see  me.  Upon 
going  to  the  parlor,  a  general  of  the  Federal 
army  introduced  himself  to  me  as  an  officer  on 
the  staff  of  the  General  commanding,  and  said 
that  he  had  called  by  direction  of  said  officer,  to 
know  when  I  meant  to  use  the  prayer  for  the 


144      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

President  of  the  United  States.  I  told  him  that 
that  was  a  question  the  General  had  no  right  to 
ask,  and  that  I  answered  no  such  questions  if  put 
in  a  tone  of  authority ;  that  the  Church  had  her 
sphere  of  action,  and  could  not  permit  any  intru- 
sion. The  officer  was  thrown  aback,  talked  a 
good  deal  about  the  absoluteness  of  military  power, 
and  intimated,  not  obscurely,  that  I  would  have  to 
succumb.  I  told  him  that  he  would  see  for  him- 
self the  issue.  After  a  considerable  talk  on  his 
part,  —  I  preserving  entire  silence,  —  he  proposed 
that  we  should  talk  the  matter  over  as  "  between 
man  and  man."  I  told  him  that  I  had  no  senti- 
ment that  was  not  open  to  the  world,  but  none 
that  could  be  extorted. 

He  then  in  a  very  familiar  way  put  the  ques- 
tion anew  under  the  programme  of,  as  "  between 
man  and  man."  —  "When  do  you  think  you  will 
use  the  prayer-book  prayer  for  the  President  ?  " 

I  answered,  "When  you  all  get  away  from 
here."  This  particular  prayer  was  for  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people's  choice  and  affection, — the 
loyal  prayer  of  the  Church  of  England,  rather 
servilely  continued  in  our  liturgy.  "  The  fact  is, 
sir,  that  the  government,  as  it  is  over  us  now, 
and  impersonated  in  the  President,  is  a  govern- 
ment for  which  I  desire  the  least  '  length  of  life  ' 
and  the  'least  prosperity'  that  is  consistent 


INTRUSION  OF  THE  MILITARY  POWER.      145 

with  the  permissive  will  of  God ; "  that  we  did 
ardently  pray  that  he  who  held  these  reins  of 
absolute  power  might  have  "grace"  to  execute 
judgment,  and  to  maintain  truth,  etc.,  and  hoped 
that  our  prayers  would  be  answered.  I  then  said 
to  the  officer,  "  Suppose  our  positions  reversed ; 
suppose  we  had  conquered  you,  and,  amid  all  your 
desolation  and  sadness  and  humiliation,  command- 
ed you  to  fall  down  upon  your  knees,  and  ask  God 
to  grant  long  life,  health,  and  prosperity  to  our 
commanding  officer, — would  you  do  it?"  I  can- 
not quote  his  reply,  for  his  excitement  threw  him 
off  his  balance ;  and  he  intimated  in  strong  but 
profane  terms,  that  he  would  be  —  something  very 
dreadful  —  if  he  would.  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  I  am 
not  disposed  to  use  your  phraseology ;  but,  if 
I  do  that  thing  that  you  come  to  order  me  to  do, 
—  addressing  the  Almighty  with  my  lips,  when 
my  heart  is  not  in  my  prayer,  —  I  ran  great 
danger  of  meeting  the  doom  that  you  have  hypo- 
thetically  invoked  upon  your  own  head."  He  then 
left. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  there  came  out 
"  general  orders,"  shutting  up  all  our  churches, 
and  "suspending"  me  from  all  my  functions. 
These  orders  were,  on  the  part  of  the  general 
commanding  the  military  district,  accompanied 
with  a  shower  of  bad  language  that  could  only 


146      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

fall  with  its  foul  savor  on  the  head  of  him  who 
gave  vent  to  it. 

Meanwhile,  the  churches  were  nearly  all  closed, 
and  soldiers  stationed  at  the  doors  to  prevent  en- 
trance. Yet  it  is  a  great  mercy  that  even  military 
rule  cannot  entirely  close  our  communications  with 
Heaven.  We  worshipped  in  private  houses  ;  and 
I  confirmed  in  churches  which  were  not  guarded 
by  soldiers,  issued  Pastorals,  etc.,  much  to  the 
indignation  of  the  general  who  had  suspended 
me  from  my  functions. 

After  a  while,  the  Council  of  the  Church  in  the 
Confederate  States  held  its  regular  triennial  ses- 
sion at  Augusta,  Ga.  There  the  whole  question 
of  "the  prayer  for  those  in  authority"  was  settled 
by  the  adoption  of  the  old  form  in  the  Prayer- 
Book.  Coupled  with  this  action,  however,  was  a 
"resolution"  that  each  bishop  should  exercise  his 
own  discretion  as  to  the  time  for  its  introduction. 
Upon  this  modification,  I  had  absolutely  insisted. 

By  this  action  of  the  Council,  it  was  competent 
for  me  at  once  to  order  the  use  of  the  prayer ; 
but  as  the  military  intrusion  still  existed,  I  de- 
layed the  matter  until  the  order  should  be  with- 
drawn. It  went  hard  with  the  General  to  do  it ; 
but  he  was  compelled  by  a  higher  power,  and 
poured  out  his  wrath  in  language  that  could  only 
defile  the  lips  from  which  it  issued. 


RE-UNION  OF  THE   CHURCHES.  147 

If  I  cannot  say  with  the  Apostle,  "  I  have,  after 
the  manner  of  men,  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephe- 
sus,"  I  can  truly  say  that  there  was  poured  upon 
my  head  a  very  flood  of  abuse  and  obloquy.  I 
received  it  in  all  complacency.  I  do  not  know 
whether  I  most  enjoy  the  plaudits  of  my  friends 
or  the  abuse  of  my  unfriends.  It  is  grateful 
"  laudari  a  laudato  viro"  The  abuse  of  some 
men  is  a  crown  of  glory. 

Now,  I  have  made  a  long  story  very  short. 
The  whole  narration  might  prove  wearisome. 

RE-UNION  OF  THE  CHURCHES  NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 
I  HAVE  dwelt  at  length  upon  this  matter  in 
the  Memorial  Sermon  of  Bishop  Elliott,  and  it 
needs  to  say  but  little  more.  As  I  have  before 
said,  my  own  position  was  quite  anomalous, 
because  of  my  having  been  consecrated  during 
the  civil  war.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  matter 
of  Church  re-union  was  among  Church  people 
the  all-absorbing  theme.  The  Southern  Bishops 
looked  at  the  matter  from  different  stand-points, 
and  came  to  different  conclusions.  Some  of 
them  took  the  ground,  that,  as  the  necessity 
for  the  formation  of  a  Church  South  had  ceased, 
the  Council  thereof  should  dissolve  of  itself, 
and  the  Bishops  and  dioceses,  through  their 
representatives,  should  appear  in  General  Conven- 


148      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

tion  at  Philadelphia,  as  if  no  separation  had  taken 
place. 

Others  took  a  different  view,  and  thought  it 
best  and  most  expedient  to  keep  up  the  Southern 
organization  until  the  animus  of  the  General  Con- 
vention should  have  been  made  manifest.  With- 
out going  into  the  matter  any  farther,  and  without 
questioning  for  a  moment  the  sincerity  and  con- 
scientiousness of  any  one,  it  will  suffice  to  say 
that  the  legislative  re-union  —  for  there  had  been 
no  breach  of  unity  —  took  place  without  serious 
difficulty,  and  that  all  was  settled  harmoniously, 
to  the  great  comfort  of  all  who  love  and  "  pray  for 
the  peace  of  Jerusalem." 

I  feel  bound,  however,  to  suggest  one  thought 
in  this  connection.  Bishops  Atkinson  and  Lay, 
two  of  our  most  able  and  revered  Bishops,  did 
appear  and  take  their  places  in  the  "  General  Con- 
vention," which  met  in  Philadelphia,  in  October, 
1865,  and  did  not  appear  at  the  meeting  of  the 
"  General  Council "  of  the  Southern  Church, 
which  met  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  November  follow- 
ing. Their  course  in  this  respect  was  entirely 
consistent  with  their  view  of  the  situation,  and  it 
must  be  said  to  their  honor  that  they  did  not  take 
their  seats  in  the  House  of  Bishops  in  Philadelphia 
until  they  were  entirely  satisfied  that  every  interest 
with  which  they  suffered  themselves  put  in  charge 


RE-UNION  OF  THE   CHURCHES.  149 

had  been  fully  protected.  In  making  my  recogni- 
tion as  Bishop  of  Alabama,  a  condition  precedent 
to  their  action,  they  deserved  my  thanks,  because 
their  intention  was  kind  ;  but  I  feel  it  incumbent 
upon  me  to  say  that  their  interposition  was  never 
sought  or  expected  by  me.  I  knew  that  my  posi- 
tion was  peculiar,  from  the  fact  that  I  had  been 
consecrated  during  the  war,  and  no  consent 
asked  from  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  North. 
I  had,  therefore,  fully  determined  to  resign  my 
jurisdiction,  if  my  case  constituted  a  bar  to 
re-union. 

Much  credit  attaches  to  the  course  pursued  by 
Bishops  Atkinson  and  Lay  in  proceeding  at  once 
to  Philadelphia,  and  it  is  generally  said  that  their 
presence  there  tended  more  than  any  thing  else 
to  the  promotion  of  re-union.  Doubtless,  their 
action  had  such  influence  ;  and  I  would  not  write 
a  word  in  disparagement  of  the  course  pursued  by 
them.  I  must  say,  however,  that  there  was  an- 
other influence  brought  to  bear  upon  the  spirit  of 
re-union, — the  absence  of  such  men  as  Bishops 
Elliott  and  Davis.  It  meant  a  great  deal.  There 
is  no  divine  sanction  in  the  legislative  union  of 
dioceses ;  and  their  absence  meant,  "  Let  us 
wait,  and  see  what  it  will  be  best  for  us  to 
do." 

Dear  brethren,  all  of  them.     They  have  passed 


I5O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

into  a  higher  realm,  and  how  infinitely  small  must 
appear  to  them  now  the  little  perturbations  of  their 
mortal  state  ! 

There  was  one  infelicity  only  attending  the 
whole  matter.  The  House  of  Bishops,  in  con- 
senting to  my  exercising  jurisdiction  in  Alabama, 
coupled  with  their  action  an  expression  of  "fra- 
ternal regrets  "  on  account  of  my  Pastoral  in  rela- 
tion to  the  use  of  the  prayer  for  the  President  of 
the  United  States.  I  did  not  like  it,  but  I  passed 
it  by.  I  made  many  allowances  for  that  action. 
It  was  to  some  a  hard  matter  to  swallow,  and  the 
opportunity  of  flinging  a  passing  regret  seemed  to 
make  it  less  unpalatable.  In  relation  to  this  par- 
ticular point,  I  merely  observed  —  in  my  history  of 
the  whole  affair,  which  is  contained  in  my  address 
to  the  Diocese  of  Alabama  —  as  follows:  "It 
would  seem,  that,  in  restoring  old  relations,  the 
expression  of  '  regrets  '  is  in  order ;  and  it  may 
not  be  amiss  in  me  to  state,  that,  after  careful 
review  of  the  various  pastorals  put  forth  in  the 
last  unhappy  years,  there  are  very  few  in  which 
we,  who  look  at  all  that  has  taken  place  from  a 
different  stand-point,  have  not  found  occasion  for 
'  regrets,'  to  which  we  can  give  no  adequate  ex- 
pression." 

It  is  inexpressibly  sweet  and  refreshing  to  one 
who  for  truth's  sake  and  a  good  conscience  has 


RE-UNION  OF  THE   CHURCHES.  151 

been  misrepresented  abroad,  to  come  home  and 
stand  among  his  own  people,  and  hear  from 
their  lips  the  "well  done"  of  a  universal  appro- 
bation. 

I  summed  up  to  my  diocese  a  history  of  my 
whole  course,  and  closed  in  these  words  :  — 

"  Thus  happily,  as  I  think,  the  Church  in  Ala- 
bama has  been  able,  through  God's  grace  and 
kind  Providence,  to  do  her  full  duty,  and  to  main- 
tain her  dignity  and  propriety,  and,  looking  alone 
to  the  weal  of  the  whole  body  of  Christ,  to  pur- 
sue a  steady  and  consistent  course.  Hencefor- 
ward, guided  by  the  same  spirit  which  has  thus 
far  led  us  and  governed  all  our  deliberations,  let 
us  more  than  ever  strive  for  those  things  which 
concern  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  His 
Church. 

"The  indications  are,  that  there  is  a  glorious 
future  for  this  branch  of  Christ's  Universal 
Church.  We  are  able  to  show  to  the  world  that 
we  are  not  a  sect,  much  less  a  sectional  sect ;  that 
the  catholic  spirit  of  the  Southern  dioceses 
has  met  a  like  response  in  the  catholic  spirit 
of  the  Northern  dioceses,  —  deep  calling  unto 
deep,  —  giving  us  confidence  that  henceforth,  as 
ever  before,  no  political  differences  shall  prevail  to 
break  the  bonds  of  catholic  unity  and  heaven-born 
charity." 


I$2      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

The  whole  address,  with  all  its  details,  was  re- 
ferred by  the  Council  to  a  committee,  which  made 
the  following  report  in  the  form  of  resolutions 
that  were  adopted  without  dissent :  — 

"Resolved,  ist,  That  the  firm,  dignified,  and 
Christian  manner  in  which  the  independence  and 
dignity  of  the  Church  in  this  Diocese  have  been 
maintained  by  its  Bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  Richard 
H.  Wilmer,  D.D.,  during  the  trying  ordeal  of  the 
last  year,  has  elicited  our  admiration,  and  deserves 
our  cordial  thanks. 

"  Resolved,  2d,  That  the  explanation  and  defence 
of  his  course,  as  set  forth  in  the  address  to  this 
Council,  place  his  conduct  on  ground  that  must 
challenge  the  assent  and  approbation  of  all  just 
and  thoughtful  men. 

"Resolved,  3d,  That  the  Bishop  be  requested  to 
furnish  a  copy  of  his  address,  for  publication. 

"These  resolutions,  on  motion,  were  considered 
seriatim,  and  unanimously  adopted."  (Journal  of 
Council  for  1866.) 


In  connection  with  the  foregoing  reminiscences, 
and  forming  a  part  of  the  whole  subject,  I  give 
you  below  a  copy  of  a  letter  which  I  wrote  Bishop 
Hopkins  of  Vermont  immediately  after  the  close 
of  the  war  of  the  States. 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  LETTER.      153 

The  good  Bishop  —  and  the  Church  in  the 
United  States  has  furnished  no  finer  specimen 
of  a  learned,  brave,  and  independent  Bishop  —  ad- 
dressed a  circular  to  the  Southern  dioceses,  urging 
them  to  return  without  delay,  and  as  a  matter  of 
course,  to  their  old  relations  with  the  Church  in 
the  United  States.  Our  wounds  were  still  bleed- 
ing, and  a  little  time  was  needed  to  heal  them 
over.  But  the  letter  will  best  explain  itself. 

A  REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'  CIRCULAR  LETTER 
TO  THE  SOUTHERN  BISHOPS,  BY  ONE  OF  THEIR 
NUMBER. 

MOBILE,  ALA.,  Aug.  i,  1865. 

RIGHT  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  just  re- 
ceived a  printed  circular,  addressed  by  you,  as 
senior  Bishop,  to  the  Bishops  of  the  Southern 
dioceses. 

The  tone  of  the  circular  is  such  as  we  might 
have  expected  from  one  who  is  never  unmindful 
of  the  rights  and  feelings  of  his  brethren. 

There  is  one  point,  however,  in  reference  to 
which  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  a  few  words  ; 
and  I  need  not  assure  you  that  I  do  so  with  the 
utmost  deference. 

In  your  pamphlet  addressed  to  the  Southern 
Church,  in  the  year  1861,  and  in  your  recent  cir- 
cular letter,  you  take  the  ground  that  the  exist- 


154      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

ence  of  a  separate  legislative  organization  in  the 
Southern  States  "would  be  clearly  schismatical." 
In  your  letter  you  say,  "  and  no  theologian  denies 
that  a  wilful  and  needless  separation  from  the 
Church  would  be  clearly  schismatical." 

True,  no  theologian  denies  this  proposition  ;  but 
there  are  many  who  will  deny  that  the  main- 
tenance of  a  separate  legislative  organization 
amounts,  of  itself,  to  a  "separation  from  t/it> 
Church"  The  minor  in  the  syllogism  is  here  as- 
sumed, and  constitutes  the  very  point  in  debate. 

Is  the  Church  in  the  United  States  "separated" 
from  the  Church  in  England  ?  Yet  they  main- 
tain distinct  legislative  organizations.  Can  any 
two  branches  of  the  Church  of  Christ  be  properly 
said  to  be  in  a  schismatical  position  —  the  one  to 
the  other  —  whilst  they  have  a  common  doctrine 
and  discipline,  and  maintain  an  unbroken  recogni- 
tion and  intercommunion  ?  Schism,  as  defined 
by  the  standard  authorities,  has  reference  prima- 
rily to  the  rending  of  communion,  and  cannot  be 
truly  predicated  of  branches  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  which  maintain  intercommunion. 

No  well-ordered  mind  can  doubt  that  it  is,  for 
obvious  reasons,  highly  expedient  and  desirable 
to  have  one  ecclesiastical  organization  in  one 
Nationality. 

Nay,  more,  it  would   seem  to  be  desirable,  if 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS "S  LETTER.      155 

practicable,  to  have  only  one  such  body,  with 
powers  so  extensive,  in  Christendom. 

But  there  is  a  condition  of  things  which  may 
render  it  still  more  desirable,  and  indeed  essential, 
to  have  national  organizations ;  and  circumstances 
may  arise  which  will  render  it  expedient  to  have 
distinct  organizations  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
same  civil  government  —  as,  for  example,  in  the 
case  of  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  England  and 
Scotland. 

You  say,  in  the  sentence  already  quoted, 
a  "  wilful  and  needless  separation,"  etc.  You 
therein  seem  to  take  the  ground,  that  a  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  Southern  dioceses  to  come  into 
legislative  union  with  the  General  Convention 
would  amount  to  a  "wilful  and  needless  separa- 
tion," etc.  Permit  me  to  say  that  the  separation 
was  not  originally  wilful,  nor,  in  our  judgment, 
needless.  Whether  a  continued  separation  be 
wilful  and  needless  will  depend  upon  circum- 
stances not  yet  foreseen.  It  is,  therefore,  if  you 
will  pardon  me  for  so  saying,  premature  to  pass 
judgment  upon  that  point  at  the  present  time. 

We  of  the  South  have  not,  at  this  moment, 
sufficient  data  upon  which  to  found  a  deliberate 
and  well-advised  action.  We  do  not  know  what 
concessions  and  admissions  may  be  required  at 
our  hands.  We  have  no  concessions  or  admis- 


I$6      REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 

sions  to  make ;  and,  therefore,  there  are  some  of 
the  Bishops  and  their  dioceses  which  will  main- 
tain the  organization  of  the  "  General  Council," 
in  order  to  be  prepared  for  all  contingencies 
whatsoever. 

Were  all  men,  good  Bishop,  like-minded  with 
yourself,  we  might  have  no  hesitation  in  this 
matter ;  but  certain  painful  things  are  brought 
to  our  ears. 

One  party  proposes  "to  keep  the  Southern 
Churchmen  for  a  while  in  the  cold  ; "  "  to  put 
the  rebels  upon  stools  of  repentance,"  etc.  We 
see  in  the  Journal  of  1862,  certain  resolutions 
proposed,  pronouncing  certain  worthy  Bishops 
"  schismatical,"  and  proclaiming  the  jurisdiction 
of  another  Bishop  "  null  and  void."  True,  the 
resolutions  were  not  adopted,  but  they  indicate 
the  temper  of  a  part  of  that  body  ;  and  we  have 
no  means  of  ascertaining  the  complexion  of  the 
next  "  General  Convention."  Fanaticism  grows 
fast  in  the  hour  of  triumph. 

Again,  a  well-accredited  rumor  reaches  us  that 
the  Pastoral  prepared  by  yourself  did  not  suit  the 
temper  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  that  it  was 
supplanted  by  one  which  gave  the  Church  utter- 
ance in  matters  political. 

Now,  suppose  that  the  ensuing  General  Con- 
vention should  decree  that  every  deputy  from  a 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  LETTER.      157 

Southern  diocese  should,  as  a  preliminary  to  tak- 
ing his  seat,  be  required  to  purge  himself,  —  to 
admit  that  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States 
was  a  "  rebellion,"  and  that  the  organization  of 
the  General  Council  was  a  "schism,"  —  in  what 
a  position  would  the  deputies  from  the  South 
be  placed  ?  This  is  not  an  impossible,  nor  an 
improbable,  supposition  in  view  of  the  present 
pressure  of  the  reigning  fanaticism.  The  Pres- 
byterians and  the  Methodists  appear  disposed  to 
take  this  attitude  towards  their  membership  in 
the  South.  We  have  indications,  on  all  hands, 
that  the  Church  has  absorbed  the  sectarian  ele- 
ment much  more  rapidly  than  she  has  assimilated 
it  to  her  spirit.  There  is  another  feature  of  this 
subject  not  to  be  overlooked,  and  one  which  you 
cannot  perhaps,  to  the  full,  appreciate. 

It  is  commonly  remarked  that  the  restoration 
of  the  union  between  the  Churches,  North  and 
South,  is  a  "mere  question  of  time"  and  that, 
therefore,  it  is  best  to  do  at  once  what  must, 
sooner  or  later,  be  accomplished.  But  there  is 
something  due  to  sentiment  in  this  matter,  and 
the  healing  influences  of  time  must  be  permitted 
to  have  play.  In  questions  which  involve  senti- 
ment, "  tJie  time "  is  an  important  element,  and 
the  logic  which  excludes  it  will  greatly  mislead. 
In  some  matters,  the  time  of  action  is  every  thing. 


158      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

There  is  nothing  illegal  in  a  second  marriage, 
and  it  is  generally  a  "  mere  question  of  time  "  with 
men  when  they  shall  marry  again ;  but,  "  The 
funeral  baked  meats  do  coldly  furnish  forth  the 
marriage  tables." 

The  best  men  of  the  South  are  now  under  the 
ban.  I  cannot  now  recall  the  name  of  a  single 
man,  of  those  who  have  been  ordinarily  selected 
to  represent  the  Southern  dioceses  in  General 
Convention,  who  is  not,  in  the  estimation  of 
public  opinion  at  the  North,  "a  rebel  and  traitor." 
But,  more  than  this,  they  are  classed  under  the 
President's  proclamation  as  "  unpardoned  rebels 
and  traitors."  And  this  for  obvious  reasons. 
The  prominent  men  of  the  South  in  the  army  at- 
tained a  grade  which  now  excludes  them  from 
the  general  amnesty ;  the  highest  legal  talent 
was  placed  in  judicial  positions,  the  occupancy  of 
which  renders  them  liable  to  the  extremest  penal- 
ties of  the  law ;  the  best  talent  in  commercial 
and  agricultural  life  has  been  so  unfortunate  as 
to  accumulate  property  above  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  amount. 

Now,  from  these  classes  of  men,  —  men  who  have 
achieved  position, — the  Church  would  naturally 
select  her  deputies  to  the  General  Convention. 
It  is  a  most  significant  fact  (and  one  which  must 
be  understood,  in  all  its  bearings,  by  the  Northern 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  LETTER.      159 

mind,  before  deputies  from  all  sections  of  the 
country  can  meet  together  in  becoming  harmony, 
and  needful  mutual  respect),  that  the  men  whom, 
from  our  stand-point,  we  regard  as  the  most  truly 
loyal,  and  in  all  respects  trustworthy,  are  precisely 
those  who  are  stigmatized  by  the  people  of  your 
section,  and  by  your  Bishops  in  their  Pastorals,  as 
"rebels  and  traitors."  It  is  surely  not  unreason- 
able to  assume  that  your  people  are  honest  in 
their  opinions,  and  that  they  will  be  consistent 
in  their  actions.  Treason  is  surely  a  dreadful 
crime.  It  may,  therefore,  reasonably  be  expected 
that  they  who  denounced  their  Southern  brethren 
as  "traitors,"  will  question  the  propriety  of  allow- 
ing them  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations  of  a 
"loyal  Church."  For  aught  we  know,  there  may 
be  a  majority  of  the  next  General  Convention  who 
will  be  disposed  to  take  this  ground ;  and  I,  for 
one,  shall  respect  their  consistency,  whilst  I  can- 
not but  lament  their  bigotry. 

Moreover,  the  Southern  deputies  themselves 
may  very  naturally  be  supposed  to  have  some 
sentiment  in  this  matter.  Their  sons  and  broth- 
ers lie  in  bloody  graves ;  their  lands  are  deso- 
late, and  strangers  devour  it  in  their  presence ; 
their  emancipated  slaves  garrison  their  cities ; 
they  live  themselves,  as  yet,  under  the  ban ;  their 
representative  man,  no  guiltier  than  themselves, 


I6O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER, 

is  in  bonds,  and  may  have  to  die  an  ignominious 
death.  The  whole  Southern  people,  therefore, 
are  at  this  moment  awaiting  trial  in  the  person  of 
their  representative  head  :  they  are  denounced  as 
felons,  and  a  shackled  press  is  forbidden  to  speak 
a  word  of  vindication  or  remonstrance.  Your  own 
heart,  good  Bishop,  will  tell  you  that  men  in  such 
a  condition  are  in  no  mood  to  join  in  jubilates 
over  a  restoration  which  is  sealed  by  their  degra- 
dation. The  peace,  for  which  Te  Deums  will  be 
chanted,  is  purchased  by  the  loss  of  their  inherit- 
ance, and  they  are  now  sitting  in  the  deep  valley  of 
humiliation.  The  men  of  the  South  have  no  de- 
sire to  prolong  the  hopeless  conflict.  They  accept 
the  failure  of  their  effort  as  a  fact,  and,  as  Chris- 
tian men,  will  render  a  faithful  allegiance  to  "the 
powers  that  be,"  for  God's  sake  ;  but  it  is  asking 
too  much  of  them  that  they  shall  swell  the  pageant 
which  celebrates  their  subjugation.  Some  time, 
Bishop,  must  be  given  to  the  heart  to  school 
itself.  Our  people  are  in  no  mood  for  joyous  con- 
gratulations. They  are  not  yet  out  of  mourning 
for  their  dead.  It  is  easy  for  you  to  come  together, 
and  to  join  heartily  in  laudates  for  peace  and  re- 
union. Yours  is  the  victorious  section.  It  is 
easy  for  him  who  triumphs,  to  forgive  ;  and  from 
your  stand-point,  you  can  thank  God  with  a  full 
heart.  We  are  trying  to  forgive  and  to  forget ; 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  LETTER.      l6l 

and,  lifting  up  our  hearts  unto  God  from  the  dust, 
we  are  trying  to  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done."  You  do 
not  know,  dear  Bishop,  what  we  have  to  endure ; 
and  your  people  "love  to  have  it  so."  You  will 
doubtless  say,  that  the  Church  of  God  is  "  not  of 
this  world,"  and  that,  as  Churchmen,  we  should 
take  no  note  of  these  things.  But,  alas !  the  whole 
Journal,  Pastoral,  etc.,  of  the  Church  North,  savor 
of  these  things.  The  next  General  Convention  will 
beyond  peradventure,  discuss  these  things.  The 
delegations  from  the  various  dioceses  are  even  now 
marshalling  for  the  conflict.  Loyalty  is  now  at  a 
high  premium,  and  the  various  religious  bodies  of 
the  country  will  vie  with  each  other  in  the  struggle 
for  popular  favor.  The  Union  sentiment  just 
now  is  uppermost  in  the  public  mind,  and  there 
are  those  who  will  train  the  legislation  of  the 
Church  to  catch  the  propitious  breeze.  That 
religious  body  will  come  just  now  into  most  favor, 
which  renders  itself  most  demonstratively  loyal. 
We  shall  have,  before  long,  tracts  and  books  dedi- 
cated to  the  popular  idol  ;  and  the  strongest 
"  Reason  why  I  am  a  Churchman  "  will  be,  not 
only  that  the  Church  is  truly  "  Republican,"  — 
that  has  long  since  been  sufficiently  proven, — but 
that  she  is  thoroughly  "  loyal." 

Excuse  some  of  us,  Bishop,  for  preferring  just 
now  to  stand  aloof  from  the  discussion  of  these 


1 62      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

subjects.  Our  own  wounds  are  too  recent  to  bear 
rough  handling.  We  have  no  heart  for  them. 
We  have  no  wish  to  discuss  them,  for  there  can 
be  no  free  discussion.  Nor  can  we,  by  our  silent 
presence,  be  faithless  to  the  memory  of  our  dead, 
nor  consent  to  stand  by  whilst  others  inscribe 
"traitor"  on  their  gravestones.  It  is  urged  that 
we  should  act  together  and  at  once,  lest  the 
Roman  Church  should,  by  her  united  front,  win 
the  prestige  of  the  hour.  We  all  comprehend 
the  reason  of  Rome's  indifference  to  this  Ameri- 
can conflict.  She  is  not  native  born.  Let  the 
recent  agitations  of  Italy,  let  her  history  for 
twelve  centuries,  testify  as  to  whether  the  Church 
of  Rome  does  always  stand  so  serenely  aloof  from 
the  political  excitements  of  the  day.  Rome  is 
not  the  mother  of  this  child.  She  cares  not 
whether  it  be  divided  or  not.  The  judgment  of  a 
Solomon,  therefore,  is  not  required  in  disclosing 
the  secret  of  her  present  indifference. 

We  have  a  great  work  before  us  in  this  country, 
—  to  maintain  Church  supremacy  within  her 
sphere,  and  to  thrust  politics  out  of  doors.  In 
order  to  this,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  catholicize 
our  prayers.  The  Church  has  suffered,  and  is 
now  suffering,  incalculably,  from  one  local  and 
political  prayer.  Scenes  of  violence  have  dese- 
crated her  sanctuaries,  the  clergy  have  been 


A   REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS 'S  LETTER.     163 

driven  from  their  flocks,  and  the  sheep  scattered. 
Sadder  than  all,  the  Priests  of  God  have  suc- 
cumbed before  His  altars  at  the  beck  of  military 
dictators. 

Should  the  animus  of  the  next  General  Conven- 
tion be  such  as  to  commend  itself  to  the  heart 
and  mind  of  the  South,  there  will,  I  think,  after  a 
while,  be  no  general  disposition  to  keep  up  a  sepa- 
rate organization.  The  General  Council  will  be 
held,  according  to  adjournment,  at  Mobile  in 
November  next.  Its  action,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
must  be  somewhat  affected  by  the  animus  exhib- 
ited in  the  General  Convention.  This  animus 
we  cannot,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  very 
clearly  foresee ;  and  we  are  not  in  a  position  to 
exercise  any  control  over  it.  We  shall  act,  as  the 
Church  in  the  South  has  hitherto  acted,  dispas- 
sionately, and  in  view  of  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church.  We  cannot,  however,  be  frightened  from 
our  propriety,  nor  can  we  be  deterred  from  the 
adoption  of  any  measures  that  may  seem  to  us  best 
and  most  expedient  by  the  cry  of  "  Schism  ! " 

Whilst  having  all  the  elements  of  a  perfect 
branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  —  the  Word,  the 
Ministry,  and  the  Sacraments, — and  being,  in  so 
far  as  our  will  can  effect  it,  in  perfect  unity  — 
both  organic  and  subjective  —  with  the  Catholic 
Church,  we  can  still  pray  from  a  full  heart,  "  From 


1 64      REMINISCENCES  OF  A  -GRANDFATHER. 

all  schism,  good  Lord,  deliver  us,"  and  think  not, 
no,  not  for  a  moment,  that  we  violate  catholic  unity,' 
although  we  may  not  be  represented  in  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States. 

I  sent  you  some  time  since  a  copy  of  the  Pas- 
toral which  I  issued  to  the  Diocese  of  Alabama 
at  the  close  of  the  war.  This  Pastoral  related  to 
matters  upon  which  we  in  the  South  have  not 
altogether  agreed  among  ourselves.  I  could  not 
come  satisfactorily  to  any  other  conclusion  than 
that  presented  in  the  Pastoral.  There  should  be 
reality  in  prayer,  if  nowhere  else.  The  duty  of 
the  Church  is,  unquestionably,  to  pray  for  all  in 
authority,  of  what  kind  soever.  This  she  does  in 
her  litany  and  elsewhere.  But  the  particular 
prayer  in  the  liturgy,  as  its  history  proves,  was 
conceived  and  worded  with  a  special  and  very 
marked  reference  to  the  subject  of  the  prayer, — 
"  Civil  Authority."  In  her  Articles  the  Church 
declares  the  duty  of  obedience  on  the  part  of  her 
members  to  "civil  authority,  legitimately  and 
regularly  constituted."  It  is  this  description  of 
authority  that  the  Church  prays  for  in  the  prayer 
headed,  "For  all  in  civil  authority."  For  this 
she  cordially  entreats  a  long  continuance  and 
prosperity.  At  this  time  measures  are  in  prog- 
ress which  look  to  the  restoration  of  "legitimate 
and  regularly  constituted  civil  authority"  in  the 


A  REPLY  TO  BISHOP  HOPKINS'S  LETTER.    165 

State  of  Alabama.  When  such  authority  is  re- 
stored, the  .clergy  of  Alabama  are  required  to 
resume  the  use  of  the  "  prayer  for  the  President 
of  the  United  States  and  all  in  civil  authority." 

The  above  is  substantially  the  letter  which  I 
wrote  privately  to  you  upon  the  receipt  of  your 
printed  circular.  I  think  it  due  to  myself  that 
this  letter  should  go  forth  to  the  Bishops  of  the 
.Church,  in  order  to  define  my  position,  and  to 
show  that,  in  declining  your  invitation  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  General  Convention,  I  am  not  acting 
without,  at  least,  some  show  of  reason. 

Depend  upon  it,  dear  Bishop,  that  any  restora- 
tion of  our  ancient  relations,  which  looks  to  the 
establishment  of  lasting  harmony  in  the  Church, 
must  be  based  upon  a  good  mutual  understanding, 
and  upon  a  due  regard  for  the  rights  and  feelings 
of  all  concerned. 

And  now,  dear  Bishop,  allow  me  to  say  that  I 
have  for  many  years  regarded  with  veneration 
.your  faithful,  consistent,  and  impartial  mainten- 
ance of  the  truth,  and  to  express  the  hope  that 
you  may  long  be  spared  to  bless  the  Church  of 
.God  by  your  counsels  and  by  your  example. 

Yours  faithfully  in  Christ  and  in  the  Ministry  of 

His  Church, 

RICHARD   H.  WILMER, 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Alabama. 
Rt.  Rev.  J.  H.  HOPKINS,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Vermont. 


1 66     REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 


NOTE  BY  BISHOP  GREEN. 

BISHOP  WILMER  has  read  to  me  the  above  letter; 
and  I  so  fully  concur  in  its  sentiments,  that  I 
adopt  it  as  my  answer  to  your  circular  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  in  the 

South. 

WM.  M.   GREEN, 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Mississippi. 

REV.  WILLIAM   H.  WILMER,  D.D., 

President  of  the  University  of  William  and  Mary.    Departed  this  Life  1827. 

HAVING  finished  my  personal  reminiscences,  I 
give  you  a  sketch  of  my  father.  I  was  too  young 
to  be  able  to  speak  of  him  from  my  personal 
knowledge. 

I  scarcely  know  how  to  express  my  gratitude  to 
the  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  D.D.,  of  the  Diocese 
of  Virginia,  for  putting  it  in  my  power  to  hand 
down  to  you  the  following  sketch  of  your  great- 
grandfather. 

Dr.  Slaughter  still  lives,  and  bears  fruit  in  his 
old  age.  He  is  the  historiographer  of  the  Church 
in  Virginia.  Although  now  of  extreme  age,  he 
still  revives  the  past,  and,  as  our  "  Old  Mortality," 
keeps  from  oblivion  the  memory  of  noble  deeds 
and  noble  men. 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,  D.D.  l6/ 

REV.  WILLIAM  H.  WILMER,  D.  D. 

THE  following  is  a  sketch  of  Dr.  Wilmer  in  Mr. 
Slaughter's  speech  at  the  late  jubilee  of  the  The- 
ological Seminary.  The  subject  is  comparatively 
new,  and  is  exhibited  from  new  points  of  view 
with  new  illustrations.  The  Episcopal  Church  in 
Virginia  is  so  much  indebted  to  this  clergyman, 
that  we  are  sure  Dr.  Slaughter's  brief  history  of 
him  will  be  read  with  deep  interest,  and,  we  trust, 
with  profit.  Some  of  our  younger  readers  may 
need  to  be  told  that  Dr.  Wilmer  was  the  father  of 
Bishop  Wilmer  of  Alabama,  and  of  Rev.  Dr. 
George  Wilmer  of  Williamsburg,  —  at  this  writ- 
ing, Professor  of  Divinity  at  Sewanee,  —  and  the 
uncle  of  Bishop  Wilmer  of  Louisiana,  and  that  he 
was  also  one  of  three  brothers,  all  of  whom  were 
clergymen  of  the  Church. 

William  H.  Wilmer  was  born  1782,  in  Kent 
County,  Md.  In  his  boyhood  he  received  deep 
religious  impressions  from  a  pious  aunt,  which 
were  confirmed  during  a  severe  illness,  when,  he 
says,  he  felt  himself  to  be  lying  in  the  arms  of  a 
loving  Father,  Who  looked  upon  him  with  a  recon- 
ciled countenance,  and  he  felt  the  "peace  that 
passeth  all  understanding." 

He  was  educated  at  Washington  College,  Kent 
County,  Md.;  and  his  religious  principles  and  de- 


1 68      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

meaner  became  subjects  of  mockery  to  the  boys, 
who  reproached  him  with  a  want  of  manliness  in 
not  joining  them  in  swearing  and  gambling.  He 
was  overcome  by  the  pressure  for  a  time,  and 
joined  the  boys  in  their  wicked  sports.  But  his 
conscience  became  so  clamorous  that  he  could  not 
silence  its  voice,  and  he  concluded  it  was  better 
to  endure  the  mockery  of  the  boys  than  "  to  be  in 
hell  amid  everlasting  burnings." 

He  resolutely  refused  to  go  again  to  a  mill 
which  was  the  scene  of  their  sports.  So  they 
turned  him  over,  as  they  said,  to  the  Methodists, 
as  serious  people  were  called  in  those  days. 

But  (as  he  told  one  of  his  parishioners  after- 
wards) he  did  not  care  what  they  called  him,  since 
the  best  man  that  ever  lived  deserved  no  better 
monument  than  this,  "A  sinner  saved  by  grace" 
He  told  a  daughter  of  Professor  Campbell  that  he 
was  about  seventeen  years  old  when  "he  took 
hold  of  the  covenant  for  himself."  "  I  felt  that 
the  precious  gift  of  faith  was  given  to  me,  that  I 
was  justified  freely  for  Jesus'  sake,  and,  being 
born  again,  the  love  of  God  was  shed  abroad  in 
my  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given  to  me."  "As 
soon,"  he  continued,  "as  I  felt  that  I  was  accepted 
by  God  as  His  son,  the  thought  flashed  upon 
me,  What  church  shall  I  join  ?  My  heart  re- 
sponded, The  dear  old  neglected  Episcopal 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,  D.D.  169 

Church ;  and  under  her  banner  will  I  fight  the 
good  fight  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
Devil." 

He  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Claggett  in  1808, 
and  for  several  years  had  charge  of  his  native  par- 
ish of  Chestertown,  Md.  In  1812  he  came  to 
Virginia  (Dr.  Henshaw  says,  "  at  the  instance  of 
Mr.  Meade  "),  and  as  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Alexandria.  The  most  cursory  inspection  of  our 
journals  of  convention  will  show  the  prominent 
part  which  he  played  in  the  drama  of  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Church  and  the  foundation  of  the 
seminary.  He  was  chosen  by  ballot  to  preside 
over  the  convention  of  1814,  and  preached  the 
convention  sermon,  —  a  sermon  which  for  felicity 
of  style,  soundness  of  doctrine,  force  of  argu- 
ment, and  power  of  appeal,  is  unmatched  in  the 
Virginia  Church-literature  of  that  day.  In  this 
sermon  he  says,  — 

"When  the  sons  of  Judah  escaped  from  the 
house  of  their  prison,  and  returned  again  to  build 
the  temple,  the  foundation  could  only  be  laid  by 
removing  the  splendid  ruins  of  the  desolated  sanc- 
tuary :  then  came  the  remembrance  of  its  former 
glories  to  mind,  and  they  wept  aloud. 

"  Have  we  not  equal  cause  for  sorrow  in  the 
view  which  the  desolated  sanctuaries  of  the  Most 
High  in  this  State  present  ?  As  we  hope,  then,  to 


I/O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

repair  the  desolations  of  many  generations,  as  we 
hope  to  preserve  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  our 
nation,  as  we  hope  to  transmit  to  posterity  the 
valuable  inheritance  of  a  form  of  sound  words,  as 
we  hope  to  obtain  that  honorable  and  valuable 
eulogium,  '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,' 
let  us  seize  the  present  moment  to  strengthen  the 
things  that  remain,  that  they  die  not.  This  mor- 
bid insensibility  which  has  crept  upon  the  Church 
is,  perhaps,  not  the  sleep  of  death.  It  may  be 
the  crisis  of  her  disease.  We  will  yet  hope  that  the 
system  retains  sufficient  stamina  for  its  resuscita- 
tion. Her  doctrines  and  liturgy  are  yet  unim- 
paired :  and  she  furnishes  in  the  principles  and 
early  prepossessions  of  the  present  generation  a 
just  foundation  of  hope,  that,  if  her  energies  were 
directed  by  a  proper  administration,  she  would  yet 
'arise  from  the  dust,  and  put  on  her  beautiful  gar- 
ments ; '  that  she  would  yet  come  forth  from  her 
exile  '  clear  as  the  moon,  bright  as  the  sun,  and 
terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.' 

"  Let  us  arise,  and  redeem  our  honor,  and  that  of 
our  venerable  Church.  The  eyes  of  Virginia  are 
fixed  upon  us.  To  us  the  thousands  who  perish 
for  lack  of  knowledge  stretch  forth  their  hands. 
From  us  they  demand  their  portion  of  that  inher- 
itance under  the  New  Testament,  of  which  we  are 
the  trustees  and  administrators.  To  us  the  Church 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,  D.D.  Ijl 

looks  for  the  confirmation  of  her  best  hopes. 
Leaders  of  the  armies  of  the  living  God,  to  us  is 
offered  this  first  of  honors,  to  us  it  is  given  to 
fight,  if  in  the  post  of  trial,  also  in  the  post  of 
honor  ;  to  us  it  is  given  to  be  covered  with  stars 
and  laurels  and  honorable  wounds,  and  to  have  a 
memorial  more  grateful  than  to  be  embalmed  with 
a  nation's  tears." 

After  this  sermon  the  ballotings  proceeded ; 
and  Bishop  Moore  was  elected  Bishop  of  Virginia, 
— the  old  man  eloquent,  whose  heart  was  a  deep 
well  of  sanctified  emotion,  overflowing  in  tears 
from  his  eyes,  falling  in  musical  cadences  from  his 
lips,  and  streaming  like  electric  sparks  from  his 
gray  hairs,  and  from  his  trembling  hands,  and 
producing  a  sensation  the  like  of  which  had  not 
been  seen  in  our  Church  since  the  era  of  Dev- 
ereux  Jarratt,  the  morning  star  of  the  Virginia 
Reformation,  whose  mantle  Bishop  Moore  so 
touchingly  invoked  the  first  time  he  entered  Old 
Sapony.  Dr.  Wilmer  was  always  President  of  the 
Standing  Committee,  and  often  of  that  on  the  State 
of  the  Church,  and  the  author  of  many  of  their 
reports.  He  was  always  at  the  head  of  the  dele- 
gation to  the  General  Convention,  and  presided 
with  distinguished  ability  over  the  House  of 
Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  for  four  successive 
sessions.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Com- 


1/2      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

mittee  on  Canons  and  of  the  Prayer-Book  Society, 
and  indeed  of  other  committees,  of  whose  reports 
he  was  generally  the  draughtsman.  He,  with  Mr. 
Oliver  Norris,  according  to  Bishop  Meade,  im- 
ported the  Canon  on  Clerical  Discipline  from  the 
Maryland  code.  In  1818  he  recommended  that 
the  clergy  be  requested  to  take  students  for  the 
ministry  into  their  families,  and  that  they  might  be 
licensed  as  lay-readers.  The  Education  Society, 
which  was  the  true  mother  of  the  Seminary, — 
whoever  may  have  been  its  father, — was  a  reali- 
zation of  these  views,  and  was  organized  the  same 
year,  he  being  its  President  so  long  as  he  remained 
in  Alexandria.  The  "  Repertory "  contains  stir- 
ring addresses  from  this  Society,  of  which  he  was 
the  author.  In  1819  he,  with  Mr.  Hawley  and 
others,  established  the  "  Theological  Repertory," 
which  was  the  organ  of  the  society,  and  the  loud 
champion  of  the  Seminary  in  every  emergency, 
and  from  whose  pages  a  discerning  critic  might 
extract  a  volume  of  theological  literature  of  no 
small  merit  from  his  pen.  In  1820  he  recom- 
mended the  project  of  Dr.  Smith  for  a  Theologi- 
cal Professorship  in  Williamsburg,  and  in  1821  he 
advocated  its  establishment  and  the  appointment 
of  trustees,  all  of  which  was  done.  He  made  the 
first  report  from  the  trustees  of  the  Seminary ; 
peculiar  circumstances,  he  said,  making  it  neces- 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,  D.D.  1 73 

sary  to  cherish  such  an  institution  in  the  South. 
In  1822,  the  Convention  of  Maryland  having  re- 
solved to  establish  a  Theological  Seminary  in  that 
diocese,  Dr.  Wilmer  was  elected  President  of 
the  Faculty.  Bishop  Kemp  laid  his  hand  upon 
this  scheme,  and  crushed  it ;  and  thus  by  an  act  of 
Providence,  the  friends  and  funds  of  that  institu- 
tion were  transferred  to  our  Seminary  in  its  time 
of  need,  adding  material  and  moral  support  to  our 
infant  institution.  In  1823,  Bishop  Moore  having 
been  detained  by  business  from  the  Convention, 
Dr.  Wilmer  was  elected  its  President. 

Professors  being  wanting  in  the  Seminary  at 
Alexandria  to  aid  Dr.  Keith,  Dr.  Wilmer  gener- 
ously consented  to  take  charge  of  the  departments 
of  Systematic  Divinity,  Ecclesiastical  History,  and 
Church  Polity,  without  fee  or  reward,  in  addition 
to  his  heavy  duties  as  rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Alexandria,  which  had  been  built  in  1818  to  ac- 
commodate the  large  congregation  which  had  over- 
flowed the  old  church. 

In  1824  he  called  upon  the  families  in  Virginia 
who  had  spare  books,  to  send  them  to  Dr.  Keith, 
as  the  nucleus  of  a  library  for  the  Seminary. 
He  was  also  the  author  of  several  addresses  in 
behalf  of  the  "  Episcopal  fund  ;  "  and,  in  response 
to  Judge  Washington,  President  of  the  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  he  prepared  a  paper  in  which  he 


174      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

condensed  the  merits  of  that  institution  within  a 
small  compass. 

Dr.  Clemson,  of  the  class  of  1825,  in  a  letter 
to  me,  giving  pleasant  memory  of  his  Professor, 
says,  "  Dr.  Wilmer  was  a  bland,  cheerful,  com- 
panionable man  :  the  students  found  him  very 
affectionate  and  accessible  —  his  manner  inviting 
confidence.  He  was  a  very  popular  pastor.  He 
and  Mr.  Norris  had  services  in  the  evenings  of 
the  week  which  were  of  a  social  character,  and  in 
which  the  students  were  invited  to  exercise  their 
gifts.  All  the  Professors  were  men  who  honored 
their  calling  as  Ministers  and  teachers.  I  revere 
their  memory,  and  revert  with  sad  pleasure  to 
those  happy  days.  The  opening  years  of  the 
Seminary  were  very  auspicious.  They  were  wise 
and  true  men  who  made  a  choice  of  such  fit  in- 
struments for  laying  the  foundation  on  which  has 
been  reared  so  grand  a  superstructure  to  the 
glory  of  God.  Dr.  Wilmer  received  and  declined 
an  invitation  to  be  the  first  rector  of  St.  John's, 
in  Washington,  and  another  to  be  assistant  to 
Bishop  Moore  in  the  Monumental  Church,  in 
Richmond,  because  his  friends  thought  his  pres- 
ence necessary  to  the  Seminary.  But  in  1826  he 
thought  he  heard  a  call  from  heaven  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  William  and  Mary  College,  with  the  care 
of  Benton  parish,  Williamsburg ;  and  he  obeyed 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,   D.D.  1/5 

the  call.  His  career  in  Williamsburg,  according 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Mann  and  other  contempo- 
raries, was  attended  with  a  perfect  ovation.  In 
the  language  of  some  of  the  old  citizens,  he  took 
possession  of  the  town.  He  visited  from  house 
to  house,  without  regard  to  denominational  dis- 
tinctions :  and  one  old  resident,  still  living,  says, 
that,  during  his  first  winter  there,  the  people 
seemed  to  forget  their  customary  dancing-parties  ; 
and  prayer-meetings,  and  social  singing  of  psalms 
and  hymns,  took  the  place  of  popular  amusements. 
His  colloquial  powers  and  his  wonderful  tact  were 
illustrated  in  many  social  scenes.  At  a  wedding, 
the  musicians  were  about  to  be  summoned  to 
inaugurate  the  dance;  but  the  host  would  not 
allow  them  to  enter  until  the  Doctor's  consent 
was  had,  and  a  young  lady  was  commissioned  to 
sound  him.  He  replied,  "  This  is  not  my  house  ; 
but,  as  I  am  commanded  not  to  conform  to  this 
world,  I  can  retire  to  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship, 
and  go  to  sleep."  — "  But,  Doctor,"  she  said, 
"when  you  were  a  child,  did  you  not  love  to 
dance  ?  "  He  replied,  "  Yes  ;  but  when  I  became 
a  man,  I  put  away  childish  things.  You,  Miss, 
are  no  longer  a  child ;  and  it  is  high  time  that 
you  should  put  away  childish  things,  and  live 
for  more  important  ends."  The  conversation  con- 
tinued ;  and,  one  by  one,  the  company  came  within 


1/6     REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

the  charmed  circle,  fascinated  by  his  felicity  of 
speech,  until  the  dance  was  forgotten,  and  the 
entertainment  ended  with  a  word  of  exhortation, 
singing  hymns,  and  prayer.  The  remark  was 
heard  on  all  sides,  "  What  a  delightful  evening  we 
have  had  !  "  When  Dr.  Wilmer  first  Went  to  Wil- 
liamsburg,  many  of  the  students  were  indignant. 
One  of  them  was  heard  apostrophizing  the  col- 
lege-walls, and  saying,  "Old  William  and  Mary, 
thy  glory  is  departed  :  a  long  farewell  to  all  thy 
greatness,  since  a  Priest  has  come  to  be  thy 
governor."  This  young  man  being  very  rude 
to  the  Doctor,  the  latter  inquired  of  my  informant 
the  reason  of  such  conduct.  She  explained ;  and  the 
doctor  replied,  "  I  will  overcome  his  evil  with 
good  ; "  and  with  such  address  did  he  manage  the 
case,  that  the  young  man  was  soon  heard  to  say, 
"What  a  fine  man  he  is  !  so  fearless  in  doing  his 
duty,  and  yet  so  kind  !  "  I  could  multiply  these 
illustrations,  but  time  and  space  forbid.  I  may 
group  them  in  some  other  form,  and  give  them  to 
the  public.  Bishop  Meade  says,  in  his  article  on 
"  Benton  Parish,"  "Never  before  had  the  experi- 
ment of  reviving  religion,  and  of  converting  young 
men,  been  so  earnestly  employed."  Prayer-meet- 
ings were  held  twice  a  week  in  private  houses, 
and  the  first-fruits  of  a  genuine  revival  of  religion 
in  college  and  town  had  appeared. 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,   D.D.  1 77 

But  Providence  had  other  designs.  Being  about 
to  leave  Williamsburg  on  a  journey,  and  being 
anxious  to  have  all  the  children  baptized,  he  rode 
around  the  parish  in  a  heavy  rain,  begging  those 
whose  children  were  unbaptized  to  bring  them  to 
the  Saviour  for  a  blessing,  offering,  where  no  fit 
sponsor  could  be  had,  to  act  as  such  himself. 
His  exposure  brought  on  a  chill,  which  ended  in 
death  on  the  2$d  of  July,  1827.  He  said  while  he 
was  conscious,  "  I  know  that  I  shall  die.  The 
Lord's  will  be  done." 

The  last  thing  he  said  was,  when  hearing  the 
voices  of  his  family  praying,  and  being  told  on 
inquiry  what  it  was,  he  said  fervently,  his  counte- 
nance lighting  up  for  a  moment,  "  It  is  right, 
very  right ; "  and  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  On  the 
occasion  of  his  death,  the  people  rose  up,  as  one 
man,  to  do  honor  to  his  memory.  He  was  buried 
beneath  the  floor  of  the  church ;  and  members  of 
the  various  denominations  united  in  placing  a 
tablet  on  the  wall,  and  defraying  the  funeral  ex- 
penses. 

Bishop  Meade,  on  behalf  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Seminary,  said,  — 

"We  have  to  record  the  heavy  loss  sustained 
by  the  Board  in  the  death  of  the  lamented  Wil- 
mer.  In  this,  and  every  other  department  of 
usefulness,  he  ever  displayed  a  judgment,  zeal, 


1/8      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  activity  seldom  united  in  one  man.  The  em- 
blems of  mourning,  which  now  designate  the 
members  of  this  convention,  evince  the  high  es- 
teem in  which  his  services  were  held  by  the  whole 
Church." 

Bishop  Moore  said,  — 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  find  language  to' 
express  my  sense  of  loss  by  the  death  of  our  be- 
loved Wilmer.  He  was  one  of  those  who  first 
called  my  attention  to  this  diocese.  Of  these,  but 
one  survives ;  and  he,  I  trust,  will  be  spared  to 
assist  you  with  his  counsels  when  my  head  shall 
be  slumbering  in  the  dust.  He  was  a  man  of 
business  and  piety.  As  a  preacher,  he  was  faith- 
ful, energetic,  and  eloquent.  He  was  the  friend 
of  evangelical  religion,  and  considered  that  the 
strictest  regard  to  the  order  of  the  Church  was 
perfectly  compatible  with  the  most  animated 
social  worship  in  the  houses  of  his  parishioners. 
His  private  meetings,  in  his  opinion,  were  the 
nursery  of  his  Church.  Like  St.  Paul,  he  not 
only  taught  his  people  publicly,  but  went  from 
house  to  house,  exhorting  them  to  prepare  to 
meet  their  God.  His  fidelity  met  my  earnest 
approbation ;  and,  if  it  is  the  wish  of  the  clergy 
to  give  an  account  of  their  stewardship  with 
joy,  oh,  let  me  entreat  them  to  go  and  do  like- 
wise ! " 


REV.    WILLIAM  H.    WILMER,   D.D.  179 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  life  of  this  gifted  man 
of  God.  It  is  not  a  full-faced  and  full-length  like- 
ness. I  have  the  ideal  and  the  material,  but  not 
the  time,  nor  perhaps  the  skill,  to  realize  it  in  a 
lifelike  picture,  —  adjusting  the  lights,  and  mak- 
ing the  mind  breathe  from  the  face,  and  the  "  elo- 
quent blood  mount  into  the  cheek,  and  almost 
speak."  Dr.  Wilmer  had  an  uncommon  combina- 
tion of  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  energy, 
which  was  the  secret  of  the  incredible  amount  of 
work  he  did  in  the  parish,  in  the  press,  in  the  pul- 
pit, in  letters,  and  in  untiring  visiting  the  sick  and 
the  poor  and  the  afflicted,  fatherless  children  and 
widows,  and  pursuing  the  sinner  through  all  the 
mazes  of  his  madness,  until  he  was  caught, 
clothed,  and  in  his  right  mind.  There  are  fruit- 
ful fields  of  illustration,  at  which  I  have  only 
glanced  in  passing.  Among  these  are  his  mis- 
sionary excursions  through  Virginia  with  Bishops 
Moore  and  Meade  and  Allen  and  McGuire  and 
others,  in  which  he  was  eminently  successful  in 
rekindling  loyalty  to  the  Church,  in  erecting  many 
a  family  altar,  and  in  warming  many  a  heart  that 
had  grown  cold.  He  left  his  mark  all  along  the 
wayside,  —  the  passing  traveller,  the  laborers  in 
the  fields,  and,  indeed,  all  classes,  from  the  old, 
powdered  and  ruffled  aristocracy  to  the  servant 
who  held  his  horse,  who  received  from  him  a 


180      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

smile,  a  word  of  counsel,  and  a  blessing.  Finally, 
if  ever  a  monument  is  reared  to  the  restorers  of 
the  Church  in  Virginia  and  the  founders  of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  the  truth  of  history  demands 
that  William  H.  Wilmer  should  have  a  high  niche 
in  it. 

NOTE.  —  I  am  under  obligations  to  Rev.  George  A.  Smith 
and  others  for  some  of  the  interesting  illustrations  of  Dr. 
Wilmer's  life.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  loving  pupil  of  Dr.  Wilmer, 
and  is  one  of  the  few  living  depositories  of  valuable  Church 
traditions. 

REMINISCENCES  OF  RIGHT  REV.  J.  P.  B.  WILMER, 
D.D.,  L.L.D,,  LATE  BISHOP  OF  LOUISIANA. 

I  CANNOT  refrain  from  placing  in  close  connec- 
tion with  my  own  reminiscences  some  few  words 
which  will  serve  to  convey  to  my  children  an  idea 
of  a  good  and  great  Bishop  of  the  Church,  who 
bore  our  family  name,  and  gave  lustre  to  it,  not 
only  in  the  United  States,  but  in  the  Anglican 
Church  throughout  the  world.  He  took  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  Lambeth  Conferences  of 
1867  and  1878. 

He  deserves  to  be  handed  down  to  posterity  in 
a  volume  rather  than  in  these  few  pages ;  and  I 
should  have  undertaken  the  grateful  task  long 
ago,  if  I  had  thought  myself  able  to  do  this  glo- 
rious man  the  justice  due  to  him.  I  cannot  even 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  /.   P.  B.    WILMER.      l8l 

attempt  to  give  his  likeness  in  miniature,  he  was 
so  unlike  all  other  men  I  have  known,  —  so  strong, 
and  yet  so  gentle ;  so  grand,  and  yet  so  approach- 
able; so  majestic  in  thought  and  diction,  and  yet 
so  childlike  in  his  familiar  utterances.  Bishops 
and  peers  would  crowd  to  hear  his  mellifluous  and 
golden  words,  and  babes  would  reach  out  for  shel- 
ter in  his  arms. 

Men  called  him,  rightly,  the  Chrysostom  of  the 
Church  in  America. 

His  father  and  mine  were  brothers,  and  both  of 
them  clergymen  of  the  Church.  His  father,  Rev. 
Simon  Wilmer,  was  a  grand  old  Roman.  We 
grew  up  together  as  children,  and  loved  each  other 
with  something  more  than  a  brother's  love.  My 
heart  overflows  even  now  when  I  think  of  him.  I 
always  want  to  see  him.  He  seems  about  my  bed, 
and  about  my  path,  and  yet  I  cannot  get  speech  of 
him.  All  his  peculiarities,  his  absence  of  mind, 
his  forgetfulness,  instead  of  detracting  from  his  in- 
fluence, imparted  a  special  charm  to  the  whole  man  : 
we  would  not  have  had  him  changed,  —  "  dear  cousin 
Joseph  !  "  as  we  all  called  him.  I  do  not  know  any 
one  whose  life,  if  it  could  be  drawn  out  in  full, 
would  so  enrich  our  Church  literature.  The  older 
he  grew,  the  wiser  he  grew,  the  more  profound 
in  his  generalizations,  the  more  epigrammatic 
in  speech,  the  stronger  for  truth,  the  sterner 


1 82      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

against  error,  the  tenderer  to  the  helpless  and 
fallen. 

In  his  best  moods  he  talked  as  an  inspired  ora- 
cle, and  with  such  wealth  of  language  that  the 
strength  of  his  thoughts  was  almost  buried  in  the 
beauty  of  his  imagery,  as  a  strong  pillar  of  stone 
overgrown  with  flowers. 

He  always  desired  a  sudden  —  he  could  never 
have  experienced  an  unprepared  —  death.  He 
wanted  to  spare  others  the  anguish  of  the  parting 
scene.  He  had  his  wish.  In  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  he  passed  from  the  toil  and 
perplexities  and  disappointments  of  life  into  the  rest 
of  paradise.  I  never  have  realized  that  he  was  dead. 
I  never  think  of  him  as  dead,  but  as  being  with 
the  Prophets  and  Apostles,  some  of  whom  in  many 
things  he  resembled,  —  Isaiah,  St.  John,  St.  Paul, 
and  the  like.  He  now  holds  high  converse  with 
those  blessed  ones,  I  doubt  not.  What  grand 
themes,  what  lofty  speech,  what  exalted  hearts, 
as  they  cast  their  crowns  down  together,  and  adore 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  yet  ever  liveth  to 
receive  honor  and  adoration  from  His  redeemed 
people ! 

I  give  you  herewith  an  extract  from  the  annual 
address  which  I  delivered  to  the  council  of  my 
diocese  at  its  first  session  after  his  death  :  — 

"The  whole  Church  has  been  called  upon  -to 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      183 

lament  the  loss  of  my  near  and  dearly  beloved  rel-' 
ative,  the  late  Bishop  of  Louisiana.  I  cannot  trust 
myself  to  speak  at  any  length  of  this  dear  Bishop. 
The  loss  to  me  personally  is  irreparable.  I  feel  as 
if  I  had  lost  part  of  myself.  I  know  not  that  we  had 
a  divergent  thought.  For  more  than  sixty  years 
we  had  grown  together  in  sympathy  and  affection. 

"  To  those  who  knew  him  well,  any  description 
would  fall  far  short  of  the  living  reality.  To 
those  who  knew  him  not,  a  true  portraiture  would 
seem  to  be  extravagant. 

"  There  was  in  him  that  wonderful  dualness  of 
character  which  we  find  in  all  complete  and  fully 
developed  natures,  and  which  found  its  fullest  and 
most  perfect  manifestation  in  Him  'Who  was 
made  man.'  There  was  in  him  a  wonderful 
blending  of  exquisite  tenderness  and  sensibility 
with  holy  resentment  of  wrong ;  patient  endur- 
ance of  personal  injury,  coupled  with  burning  in- 
dignation against  injustice  to  others.  This  was 
the  spirit  that  flamed  in  St.  John,  who,  at  one 
time,  would  fain  have  called  down  fire  from 
heaven  to  consume  those  who  treated  his  dear 
Lord  with  indignity,  and  at  another  would  calm 
his  fevered  brow  by  resting  it  upon  his  Lord's 
bosom  ;  the  same  spirit  that  made  St.  Paul'  at  one 
time  willing  to  be  'accursed  for  his  people,'  and, 
at  another,  forced  him  to  hurl  his  'Anathema, 


1 84      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

*Maranatha,'  against  any  man  who  loved  not  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  the  spirit  which  reached  its 
absolute  perfection  in  our  dear  Lord,  'Who  for 
us  men  and  for  our  salvation  came  down  from 
heaven  and  became  man ; '  Who,  at  one  time, 
'  like  a  lamb,  was  dumb  before  His  shearers,'  and 
at  another,  like  a  lion,  drove  the  profaners  of  His 
Father's  house  from  the  temple  with  a  whip  of 
cords.  All  large  and  well-rounded  natures  — 
*  teres  atque  rotundus '  —  manifest  this  dualness  of 
nature  —  the  nature  both  of  a  man  and  woman  — 
in  a  spirit  which  melts  over  the  sufferings  of  a 
child,  and  yet  can  stand  undaunted  before  rulers 
and  Presidents,  and  to  their  face  denounce  their 
injustice  and  wrong.  So  near  akin  to  holy  jeal- 
ousy is  an  ardent  love. 

"  I  would  that  some  one  could  be  found  to  give 
us  a  complete  and  faithful  likeness  of  the  dear 
Bishop  of  Louisiana.  I  cannot  trust  myself  to 
attempt  it.  I  make  my  own  the  eloquent  words 
of  one  who  knew  him  well,  and  loved  him  well,  — 
one  who  had  capacity  to  weigh  magnitudes,  him- 
self a  man  of  weight  (Right  Rev.  Hugh  Miller 
Thompson,  D.D.,  then  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
New  Orleans,  and  now  bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Mississippi).  I  had  urged  him  to  preach  the 
bishop's  memorial  sermon.  In  reply,  he  writes, 
'  I  am  here  by  one  drawing  —  the  personal  magne- 


'  REMINISCEATCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      185 

tism  of  a  man  whose  soul  was  like  a  calm,  deep, 
summer  lake  ;  whose  presence  stilled  the  warring 
of  my  own  heart,  its  unrest  and  rebellion,  and 
even  doubt,  I  confess  it ;  and  in  the  light  of  whose 
transfigured  face  I  found  God's  peace.  He  is 
gone,  and  that  is  gone  out  of  my  life  which  can 
never  come  again. 

'  Another  beacon-light  blown  out  above  me  ; 
Another  buoy-bell  stilled  upon  the  sea.' 


"  The  deeps,  calm  and  profound,  into  which  de- 
scended, and  from  which  were  reflected,  all  the 
starry  lights  of  heaven,  in  that  magnificent  soul, 
were  all  I  ever  saw,  and  the  memory  of  it  all  that 
remains  unto  me  now.  I  don't  know  whether  he 
was  'learned/  or  'able,'  or  'eloquent,'  or  any  thing 
else.  I  only  know  that  his  speech  to  me  was  like 
the  chiming  of  the  bells  in  the  towers  of  heaven. 
I  only  know  the  personal  presence  of  the  man  put 
me  in  harmony  with  the  everlasting  cadences.  I 
want  only  to  sit  alone  with  a  memory  that  ought 
to  sanctify  my  life.  The  regal  glory  of  that  ma- 
jestic face  as  I  looked  upon  it  for  the  last  time  in 
the  coffin,  can  never  fail  from  my  remembrance. 
He  looked,  dead  in  his  robes,  a  Prince  of  God ; 
and  the  dead  look  was  but  a  faint  transcript  of 
the  living  presence.  I  might  clasp  your  hand, 


1 86      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

who  knew  him,  kinsman,  brother  of  the  same 
blood,  and  say  nothing  but  what  the  heart  might 
say,  but  I  could  do  no  more. 

"  Our  '  memorials '  and  our  talks  about  him  are 
idle  enough,  God  knows,  and,  to  some  moods  of 
mine,  are  even  shocking.  I  cannot  talk  about  him. 
The  surface-babble  about  his  absence  of  mind, 
and  personal  peculiarities  and  the  rest,  are  infi- 
nitely disgusting  to  me.  I  ask  for  myself  to  be 
allowed  to  bear  in  my  heart,  as  one  of  the  treas- 
ures, and,  God  help  me,  one  of  the  responsibilities, 
of  my  life,  the  fact  that  for  three  years  I  knew, 
associated  with,  and  loved  this  man,  crowned  on 
earth  one  of  the  peerage  and  senate  of  heaven." 

I  add  here  some  verses  written  to  me  by  my 
sister,  your  aunt  Marion.  They  were  written  at  a 
time  of  deep  depression  in  the  State  of  Louisi- 
ana. A  cloud  of  vultures  had  come  down  upon 
the  battle-field,  to  prey  upon  the  dead  and  nearly 
dying.  Strangers  held  the  reins  of  power,  aliens 
sat  in  the  halls  of  justice,  and  publicans  gathered 
the  tithes  of  cotton.  I  use  plain  language  because 
I  speak  of  a  foul  wrong  done  our  people.  Think  of 
a  set  of  people  inimical  to  us,  just  out  of  a  terri- 
ble war,  leaguing  with  a  dominating  race  of  newly 
emancipated  slaves,  and  exercising  all  functions, 
legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  —  a  humiliation 
such  as  in  modern  times  was  never  inflicted  by  one 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER,      l8/ 

civilized  people  upon  another.  At  this  time,  the 
indignation  of  the  people  of  Louisiana  —  for  the 
pressure  was  then  chiefly  there — had  reached  such 
a  pitch,  that  the  noblest,  bravest,  and  most  loyal 
citizens  had  come  to  the  solemn  resolution  that 
they  might  die,  but  would  not  longer  live  in  this  con- 
dition. I  speak  of  what  I  know,  and  it  strains  the 
heart  now  to  recall  it.  A  single  step  farther,  and 
the  streets  of  New  Orleans  would  have  run  blood. 
And  yet  this  was  the  hour  when  it  was  proposed 
to  me  to  hold  a  united  "Te  Deum  service."  The 
good  friend  who  made  the  proposition  suggested 
that  we  were  all  now  under  one  flag,  and  a  "  Te 
Deum  service  "  would  be  in  good  form.  I  replied 
that  it  was  true  that  we  were  under  one  flag,  but 
that  the  flag  had  a  twofold  aspect :  it  had  its  stars 
and  its  stripes  ;  but  the  stars  shone  upon  him,  and 
the  stripes  alone  were  still  upon  us,  and  that  just 
now  we  might  sing  "De  Profundis,"  and  even 
"Nunc  Dimittis,"  but  not  "Te  Deums,"  unless 
men  could  sing  the  same  anthem  under  stars  and 
stripes  alike.  I  recall  these  things  because  I  am 
writing  reminiscences,  and  want  my  posterity  to 
know  the  past,  and  how  to  interpret  the  deeds  of 
their  fathers. 

This  state  of  things  which  I  am  now  describ- 
ing will  show  how  little  the  good  people  of  the 
North  —  and  for  them  I  feel  a  warm  admiration 


1 88      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  regard  —  knew  of  the  actual  state  of  affairs 
in  the  South  during  this  period.  Their  fathers 
groaned  under  a  tax  upon  tea  laid  without  privi- 
lege of  representation.  The  sons  of  those  men 
should  comprehend  the  intolerable  weight  that 
the  men  of  the  South  bore  all  those  years.  I 
asked  a  highly  intelligent  gentleman  in  New  York 
how  he  would  like  his  State  Legislature  to  be  com- 
posed of  one-third  of  whites  —  many  of  them 
were  not  to  the  manor  born  —  and  two-thirds  of 
newly  emancipated  slaves,  and  told  him  that  such 
had  been  the  constituency  of  the  South  Carolina 
Legislature.  He  said  "it  could  not  be  possi- 
ble." The  fact  is,  that  a  full  history  has  not  yet 
appeared ;  but  we  must  all  appear  at  the  bar  of 
judgment  in  time  and  eternity. 

At  this  crisis,  the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  came 
forward — man  of  peace  as  he  was.  His  whole 
soul  boiled  with  a  holy  indignation  —  it  was  holy 
because  righteous.  He  went  to  Washington  City, 
and  laid  the  case  before  President  Grant.  A 
word  from  the  Commander  of  the  army  would 
have  precipitated  the  collision.  He  told  him  so, 
and  told  him  that  he  (the  President)  was  respon- 
sible before  God  for  the  blood  that  would  be  shed, 
for  the  people  were  oppressed  by  a  tyranny  that 
they  could  not  and  would  not  longer  stand.  That 
famed  General  never  faced  a  more  dauntless  eye 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      189 

than  that  which  now  looked  into  his.  The  Bishop 
laid  the  whole  case  before  the  President,  and  told 
him  of  the  resolve  of  his  people,  and  that  they  had 
yielded  as  far  as  human  nature  could  endure.  The 
President,  as  became  the  man,  gave  him  a  hearing, 
told  him  that  he  himself  was  going  out  of  power, 
but  would  give  him  letters  to  his  incoming  suc- 
cessor. He  did  so,  and  the  Bishop  presented  them 
in  person  to  the  President-elect  at  his  home  in  the 
West.  I  had  the  details  from  the  Bishop's  own 
lips ;  and  the  sequel  showed  his  instrumentality  in 
lifting  the  load  from  the  hearts  of  his  people,  and 
bringing  to  them  relief  from  the  tyranny  that  op- 
pressed them.  But  all  this  strain  upon  heart  and 
mind  told  upon  him,  as  it  had  done  upon  Bishop 
Elliott  of  Georgia.  The  springs  of  life  gave  way 
under  the  heavy  pressure. 

I  give  these  few  details  in  order  that  you  may 
understand  some  allusions  in  the  lines  which  fol- 
low, and  the  withering  sarcasms  uttered  by  the 
Bishop  himself  in  the  extract  following. 

"  Louisiana  !  matron  fair,  with  bosom  bleeding, 
List  to  the  funeral  wail,  all  other  woes  unheeding ; 
Trail  all  thy  banners  low,  abase  thy  queenly  head  ; 
Think  not  of  traitors  now,  forget  thy  blood  was  shed ; 
Cry  low  on  bended  knee,  '  Our  Wilmer's  dead  ! ' 

Queen  of  the  South  !  methinks  I  see  thee  kneeling, 
Discrowned  in  dust  and  shame,  while  tears  are  stealing 


I QO      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

From  eyes  now  dulled  with  grief,  and  memories  of  shame 
Wrought  by  adopted  sons ;  but  yet  there  is  a  name, 
Crowned  with  celestial  light,  worthy  thy  fame. 

Empress  of  States  !  is  it  not  worth  the  telling  ? 
Thou  hadst  one  son  —  a  Prince  —  whose  voice  now  swelling 
The  antiphone  of  heaven,  erst  in  his  manhood's  prime, 
Nursing  his  royal  heart  at  fountains  pure,  sublime, 
Poured  out  his  kingly  soul  for  thee,  like  generous  wine. 

Mother  of  many  creeds  and  nations  !  thou  who  barest 
Scars  of  a  conflict  on  thy  regal  brow,  —  thy  best  and  bravest 
Into  the  quiet  grave  hath  passed  forevermore. 
The  sweet  persuasion  of  his  wondrous  tongue  no  more 
Shall  claim  a  boon  for  thee  :  his  battle's  o'er. 

Louisiana  !  Mother  !  Queen  !  thou  heedest  not  thy  losing ; 
The  fray  is  sharp,  the  conflict  lengthens  ;  and  the  closing 
Of  warrior  hosts  in  battle  shock  hath  stunned  thine  ears  ; 
A  fell  disease  has  fouled  the  sweetness  of  thy  perfumed 

airs, 
But  more  than  this  is  lost  to  thee,  —  a  good  man's  prayers  ! 

And  thou,  O  Church  of  God  !  while  sadly  breathing 
Funereal  orisons,  receive  his  mantle,  and,  his  sword  un- 
sheathing, 

Fill  up  the  breach,  when  thou  a  man  dost  find 
Refreshed  with   childhood's   grace,  a   warrior  brave,  yet 

kind, 

A  lion,  yet  a  lamb,  a  minister  to  men,  a  man  of  mark  and 
mind." 

But  let  the  good  Bishop  speak  himself,  as  he 
did  to  his  church  in  council  assembled.     It  was 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      19 1 

rarely  that  he  thus  spoke,  but  it  was  when  the 
very  stones  should  have  cried  out.  /  He  was 
speaking  of  that  class  of  men  who  had  come  to 
his  State  for  plunder,  who,  being  disturbed  at 
their  unholy  work,  had  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
General  Government,  saying  that  they  were  in- 
terfered with  in  their  roguery,  and  that  the 
Southern  people  were  not  yet  subdued. 

The  Bishop  writes,  — 

"  If  you  listen  to  their  complaints,  no  cause 
ever  had  so  many  martyrs.  Martyrs  !  History 
portrays  the  victims  of  persecution,  in  all  ages, 
hiding  themselves  from  public  view,  and  seeking 
refuge  in  the  wilderness,  or  in  dens  and  caves 
of  the  earth.  It  has  been  reserved  for  these 
Southern  martyrs  to  be  clothed  with  political 
power,  and  to  command  for  themselves  and  their 
adherents  the  highest  offices  of  profit  and  dignity. 
Behold  them  ostracized  from  their  homes  to  be- 
come representatives  in  the  Legislature  ;  pilgrims 
and  wanderers,  traversing  their  judicial  circuits 
quietly  and  leisurely  to  administer  justice;  driven 
by  the  sharp  edge  of  persecution  to  occupy  lordly 
mansions,  and  to  sit  down  at  sumptuous  tables, 
—  men  who  had  never  riches,  and,  some  of  them, 
never  homes,  before ! 

"  Persecution  is  not  very  sharp  which  is  thus 
displayed.  Of  one  thing  these  people  complain, 


I Q2      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

and  have  a  right  to  complain,  — '  that  the  people 
under  their  rule  are  not  satisfied.'  No,  they  are 
not  satisfied.  Bereft  of  power  in  the  land  of 
their  inheritance,  the  voice  of  their  complaint 
cannot  be  hushed  in  a  moment.  Beholding  the 
sad  breach  made  in  many  communities  and  house- 
holds, the  deep  sigh  will  escape  from  their  lips, 
'This  is  not  the  necessary  result  of  emancipation.' 

"  For  this  restlessness  and  loud  complaint,  they 
are  abused  for  disloyalty,  and  disobedience  to 
authority.  '  The  South  was  never  more  proud  and 
defiant  before  the  war,'  are  the  words  which  fell 
from  the  lips  of  ruling  statesmen  in  Congress. 
'  Protection  '  is  demanded  from  this  great  wrong ! 
'  Protection  ! '  —  for  those  in  power  from  those 
out  of  power.  '  Protection  ! '  —  for  scorpions  who 
have  stolen  the  dove's  nest,  that  they  shall  not 
be  obliged  to  hear  the  plaintive  cries  of  the 
mother  bereft  of  her  young.  '  Protection  ! '  — for 
the  soft  slumbers  of  the  wolf  gorged  with  his  prey, 
that  he  shall  not  be  disturbed  by  the  bleating  of 
the  sheep-fold  upon  the  midnight  air ! 

"  I  am  bold  to  make  this  charge  —  not  against 
the  chief  magistrate  of  this  nation,  who  is  often 
in  our  prayers,  never  in  our  animadversions ;  nor 
against  the  chief  ruler  of  this  State,  to  whom  we 
are  equally  bound  to  render  honor  —  but  against 
the  power  which  is  stronger  than  both,  and  which 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      193 

is  holding  this  State  under  its  inexorable  sway, 
I  am  bold  to  make  this  charge.  Modern  history 
•has  no  example  of  a  power  so  hard  to  propitiate, 
perhaps  no  example  of  equal  patience  under  such 
misfortunes. 

"  Was  it  a  mute  prophecy  of  our  coming  fate, 
which  is  expressed  in  the  emblem  upon  our  na- 
tional escutcheon,  —  the  eagle  with  one  talon 
holding  forth  the  olive-branch  of  peace  to  all  na- 
tions, and  with  the  other  grasping  the  arrows  of 
death  pointed  to  its  own  breast  —  friendly  to  all 
others,  intolerant  and  cruel  only  to  its  own  ? " 

There  is  nothing  in  the  "Letters  of  Junius" 
finer  and  more  withering  than  this  sarcasm. 

But  read  from  him  on  another  theme, — the 
coming  final  retribution.  It  is  a  very  suggestive 
fact  that  the  words  which  follow  came  heated  with 
intense  faith  from  the  soul  of  the  gentlest  and 
sweetest  nature,  — one  who  would  turn  aside  from 
crushing  a  worm.  Yet  there  are  no  words  which 
approach  in  plainness  and  terribleness  the  lan- 
guage used  by  our  Lord  Himself.  When  will 
Christian  people  turn  from  the  streams  fouled  by 
their  own  imaginings,  and  drink  the  water  of  life 
fresh  from  the  spring-head,  — "  The  Truth  "  ? 

There  is  no  mawkish  sentimentality  in  Nature 
or  Revelation,  but  there  are  in  both  these  volumes 
life  and  death. 


IQ4      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

But  let  the  good  Bishop  speak.  I  quote  from 
one  of  his  addresses  to  his  council. 

I  met  him  shortly  after  this  address  had  been, 
published,  and  said  to  him,  "  You  write  as  if  you 
had  a  personal  animosity  against  the  Devil." 
Assuming  that  peculiar  look  of  his  when  sud- 
denly solemnized,  he  said,  "  Yes,  I  have,  sir.  He 
is  the  greatest  enemy  I  have.  He  has  done  me  a 
world  of  mischief.  I  hate  him,  sir." 

If  he  so  did  hate,  it  was  the  only  being  he  did 
hate,  and  that  because  the  Adversary  opposed  the 
goodness  of  the  good  God.  There  was  a  grand 
piety  in  such  hate.  I  wish  I  could  give  you  all 
his  words :  they  are  much  needed  in  this  genera- 
tion, which  is  in  a  condition  of  violent  re-action 
from  puritanic  ideas  of  the  Deity.  He  writes,  — 

"  So  we  learn  from  Revelation  to  define  the 
power  of  that  malicious  spirit,  whose  personality 
involves  the  fate  of  the  Bible  and  humanity.  To 
dispute  this  truth  is  to  endanger  the  whole  gospel. 
The  fastidious  clemency  which  would  cover  from 
human  sight  the  terrors  of  hell  and  the  infernal 
malice  of  Satan  and  his  legions,  had  no  place  in 
His  teaching.  He  knew,  as  no  human  teacher 
can  know,  what  was  the  mystery  of  the  second 
death,  and  what  dark,  infernal  agencies  crowd  the 
avenues  which  lead  to  it ;  and  He  made  it  known 
in  words  which  burn  like  fire.  Three  times,  in  as 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.  P.  B.    WILMER.      195 

many  consecutive  sentences,  He  spoke  to  the 
multitude  of  the  torment  of  damned  spirits,  — 
"'where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched.' 

"  To  contradict  this  testimony,  or  to  dilute  it, 
is  to  deprive  religion  of  its  august  power.  Man- 
kind are  not  to  be  converted  to  hate  sin  by  extin- 
guishing its  penalties.  Hell  is  not  less  a  reality 
than  Heaven,  is  not  less  vividly  depicted,  is  not 
less  enduring,  and  eternal  in  its  duration.  Reve- 
lation will  not  be  accused  of  exaggeration  in  the 
description  which  is  given  of  the  blessedness  of 
the  heavenly  Jerusalem.  None  are  willing  to  be- 
lieve that  its  streets  of  gold,  its  white  robes,  its 
applauding  hymns  of  joy,  express  more  than  is 
true  of  the  felicity  of  the  saints  in  light.  You 
can  no  more  evacuate  hell  of  its  terrors  than 
Heaven  of  its  beatitudes.  You  can  no  more  ex- 
tract the  pungency  from  the  torments  of  the 
damned  than  you  can  silence  the  Seraphim's  song. 
There  will  nothing  be  left  for  faith,  if  you  can 
wrest  the  Scripture  to  prove  that  torment  does 
not  mean  torment,  and  everlasting  does  not  mean 
everlasting." 

Towards  the  close  of  the  address,  he  writes,  — 
"  I  have  arrived  at  the  close  of  a  painful  demon- 
stration, which  I  did   not    undertake  without  re- 
pugnance.    If  it  shocks  your  sensibilities,  do  not 


196      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

think  it  a  subject  of  congratulation,  or  any  proof 
of  superior  intelligence,  virtue,  or  refinement. 
Good  men  are  sometimes  betrayed  into  compla- 
cency with  flippant  allusions  to  this  august  mys- 
tery. It  may  silence  this  raillery  to  reflect  that 
they  are  in  alliance  with  the  most  degraded  of 
their  race.  You  are  not  alone,  ye  men  of  wit  and 
levity,  in  dashing  from  your  lips  the  '  cup  of  trem- 
bling.' Multitudes  are  convinced  by  your  argu- 
ments. The  murderer,  the  spoiler  of  innocence, 
the  base  miscreant,  sunk  in  ignorance,  clotted 
with  vice  and  infamy,  —  their  voices  are  in  unison 
with  yours  in  disowning  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment.  Your  scepticism  is  greeted  with  a 
glad  welcome  in  every  retreat  of  crime,  and  is  only 
strange  and  foreign  to  the  innocent  breast  of 
childhood,  and  to  the  faith  of  holy  men  and  mar- 
tyrs in  the  Church  of  God.  You  may  refuse  to 
believe  in  hell ;  but,  with  such  grim  followers,  you 
have  no  cause  to  be  proud  of  your  discernment, 
arching  your  brow  contemptuously  upon  the  igno- 
rance and  credulity  of  believers.  .  .  . 

"  I  will  speak  more  feelingly.  Until  this  doc- 
trine is  received  and  felt  by  you,  as  God  reveals 
it  in  His  Word,  notwithstanding  your  professions, 
you  are  ignorant  of  the  mystery  of  redemption. 
You  are  not  saved,  for  you  were  never  lost.  The 
blessings  of  redemption  will  never  be  yours  until 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.   P.  B.    WILMER.      197 

you  beseech  God  to  break  in  pieces  your  pride,  by 
giving  you  a  profound  view  of  your  own  misery,  a 
lively  conviction  of  the  hatefulness  and  malignity 
of  sin,  and  an  implacable  hatred  of  yourselves  as 
sin  has  made  you,  so  that  your  words  may  be 
true  words,  and  not  words  of  mockery,  when  you 
pray,  '  From  everlasting  damnation,  good  Lord, 
deliver  us.' 

.  .  .  "There  is  no  danger  that  the  Church  of 
which  we  are  members  will  not  grow  and  increase 
in  power  with  the  progress  of  education  in  this 
country.  There  is  no  danger  that  a  large  share 
of  the  intelligence,  refinement,  sober  morality  of 
this  land,  will  not  be  well  represented  in  our 
sanctuaries.  But,  is  there  not  danger  that  the 
independence  and  fidelity  of  our  priesthood  may 
be  overawed  by  the  redundance  of  worldly  wealth, 
or  the  fastidiousness  of  public  taste,  enfeebling 
the  tone  of  the  pulpit  ?  Our  strength  will  die  out 
when  we  hear  no  more  the  stern  expostulations  to 
sinners  to  'flee  from  the  wrath  to  come/ 

"  This  Church  has  need  of  iron  in  its  blood.  It 
has  need  of  fire  in  its  veins,  and  majesty  in  its 
voice  to  make  men  feel  and  tremble,  who  are  now 
buried  in  carnal  sloth  and  security.  It  is  quite 
clear  that  the  words  which  go  forth  from  our  pul- 
pits on  future  punishment  have  not  the  sober 
reality,  or  the  vivid  flash  and  power,  to  silence 


198      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

criticism  and  rebuke.  No  man  smiles  at  lightning 
when  it  leaps  from  the  clouds,  and  shakes  its 
glittering  spear  above  his  head.  It  may  not  pro- 
duce repentance,  but  it  is  too  awful  for  derision. 
May  not  the  fault  be  in  our  preaching,  rather  than 
in  the  Revelation  itself,  that  the  torments  of  the 
damned  evoke  words  of  carping  criticism  instead 
of  solemn  awe  and  trepidation  ?  We  do  not  stand 
before  the  people  with  the  awe  upon  us  of  this 
great  mystery. 

"  Come,  ye  tongues  of  fire  which  rested  on  the 
early  messengers  of  the  gospel,  and  burn  this 
awful  truth  into  the  minds  of  ministers  and  people ! 
He,  Who  cannot  deceive,  asserts  it,  —  that  the 
unbelievers,  the  profane,  the  careless,  who  are 
lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God,  are 
exposed  to  the  unknown  pangs  of  the  second 
death.  Calmly  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  those 
whose  end,  disguise  it  as  we  may,  is  eternal  exclu- 
sion from  the  presence  of  God. 

"  The  conversion  of  sinners,  the  salvation  of 
souls,  it  is  no  enthusiasm  to  say,  is  the  great 
work  which  God  has  delegated  to  His  people.  He 
might  have  chosen  agencies  more  worthy,  but  He 
has  not  done  so.  The  sublime  task  of  spoiling 
Satan  of  his  power,  and  gathering  repentant  sin- 
ners from  threatened  punishment  to  people  the 
abodes  of  the  blessed,  is  your  work  and  mine;  and, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  J.   P.  B.    WILMER.      199 

if  not  done  by  us,  it  will  be  left  undone.  Heaven 
throws  wide  its  gates  to  animate  our  labors  ;  ran- 
somed saints  are  waiting  to  authenticate  our  faith  ; 
imperishable  crowns  to  reward  our  fidelity. 

"Alas !  for  that  cold,  mocking  incredulity,  which 
would  exchange  this  sure  inheritance  of  glory, 
pledged  to  every  true  believer,  for  a  doubtful  and 
precarious  fate ;  which  concerns  itself  rather  to 
snatch  a  gleam  of  comfort  from  God's  judgments, 
than  to  find  safety  in  His  promises  ;  more  intent 
to  deprive  the  kingdom  of  darkness  of  its  woes, 
than  to  gain  an  abundant  entrance  into  '  The 
Everlasting  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.' ' 

But  I  feel  that  I  am  not  doing  justice  to  the 
good  Bishop  by  taking  detached  sentences  from 
his  writings.  I  merely  wanted  you  to  see  the 
spirit  of  the  man.  I  wish  I  could  picture  him  as 
I  see  him.  Some  day  I  hope  that  some  one  will 
be  found  to  gather  up  his  choicest  sermons  and 
addresses  for  the  enrichment  of  our  Church-litera- 
ture. 

I  will  only  add  in  conclusion,  that,  to  all  his 
other  graces  and  attractions,  there  was  an  unspeak- 
able purity  and  delicate  refinement  of  nature, 
which  permeated  his  whole  life,  and  covered  him 
as  a  garment.  I  had  the  sense  of  talking  with  a 
refined  woman  when  holding  discourse  with  him. 


2OO      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

He  had  it  from  a  child,  and  by  heredity,  from  his 
father  and  mother.  He  had  the  most  delicate 
appreciation  of  genuine  wit  and  humor,  and  was 
full  of  it  himself,  but  turned  with  loathing  from  all 
discourse  that  bordered  on  the  vulgar,  as  every 
Christian  gentleman  should  do  —  especially  a 
clergyman.  He  should  be  unfrocked  —  I  care 
not  what  his  learning  and  office  may  be  —  who  in- 
dulges in  obscene  and  vulgar  allusions. 

Your  cousin  was  upon  one  occasion  at  a  large 
dining-party.  After  the  first  glass  of  wine,  the 
ladies,  as  is  their  wont,  left  the  dining-room  for 
the  parlor.  The  gentlemen  rose,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  until  the  ladies  had  passed  out.  As  they 
settled  themselves  to  the  table  again,  one  of  the 
company  said,  "  Now  I  can  give  you  the  anecdote 
which  I  could  not  do  whilst  the  ladies  were 
present."  The  bishop  looked  gravely  upon  him, 
and  said,  "  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  consider  me 
a  lady,  sir  ? "  Ladies  might  have  been  safely 
present  the  rest  of  that  evening.  Alas !  alas  ! 
that  so  much  greatness  and  goodness  and  sweet- 
ness have  passed  out  of  this  ungodly  and  impure 
world. 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2OI 

THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA. 
En  fHemortam. 

I  DON'T  know  that  I  can  give  my  children  a 
more  complete  idea  of  a  typical  Southern  gentle- 
man and  Christian  Bishop,  than  by  adding  to 
these  reminiscences  a  portraiture  which  —  in 
1867,  shortly  after  the  war  of  the  States  —  I  drew 
of  Bishop  Elliott  of  Georgia. 

He  was  a  Southern  man,  a  slaveholder,  and  a 
Southern  patriot  of  the  first  water.  When  men 
of  the  South  realize,  as  they  should,  that  some 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  refined  Christian  char- 
acter are  to  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  Republi- 
can party  in  the  North,  and  when  men  of  the 
North  realize,  as  they  should,  that  men  of  like 
refined  Christian  character  in  the  South  defended, 
and  still  do  defend,  the  original  right  to  secede 
under  the  then  existing  Constitution,  then  may 
we  indulge  the  hope  that  the  late  conflict  of  ideas 
and  principles  may  —  not  be  buried  and  forgotten, 
—  for  it  was  too  earnest  and  sincere  a  conflict  to 
be  forgotten, — but  understood.  Then  men  will 
respect  each  other,  and  cease  stigmatizing  each 
other  by  opprobrious  epithets.  I  never  allow  any 
man  to  call  me  a  ''rebel,"  nor  do  I  allow  him  to 
speak  in  my  presence,  unrebuked,  of  a  war  for 
Constitutional  right  as  a  "  Rebellion." 


202      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

When  one  sees  such  men  as  Bishops  Lee  of 
Delaware,  and  Potter  of  Pennsylvania,  on  one 
side  of  a  great  question,  and  such  men  as  Bishops 
Meade,  Elliott,  and  Davis,  on  the  opposite  side, 
they  should  cease  from  "calling  people  names," 
as  the  children  well  designate  it,  and  calmly  con- 
sider the  great  lessons  of  the  hour.  One  great 
lesson  may  assuredly  be  gleaned,  —  that  the  whole 
truth  is  many-sided  ;  that  no  one  man,  however 
great  and  good,  can  see  all  its  sides.  He  alone, 
who  is  "  The  Truth,"  can  never  err. 

In  the  memorial  sermon  which  follows,  I  have 
aimed  to  view  the  recent  conflict  of  ideas  from 
the  stand-point  of  a  Bishop  of  the  Church,  born 
and  reared  in  the  South,  and,  therefore,  from  the 
Southern  view  of  the  whole  question.  We  have 
no  apologies  to  make,  but  feel  bound  by  that 
charity  which  "rejoiceth  in  the  truth,"  to  throw 
whatever  of  light  may  have  been  vouchsafed  to 
us  upon  a  subject  which  to  some  minds  appears 
dark  and  mysterious. 

fHemcrfal  Sermon. 

"  Even  so,  Father :  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy  sight."  —  ST. 
MATTHEW  xi.  26. 

DEARLY  beloved,  a  great  sorrow  has  brought 
us  together  this  day.  It  has  devolved  upon  me  — 
a  stranger  to  almost  all  before  me  —  to  speak  of 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2O3 

the  life  and  labors  of  your  dear,  departed  Bishop. 
But  yet,  in  the  church  and  diocese  of  my  brother 
of  Georgia,  and  surrounded  by  so  many  hearts 
which  beat  quickly  at  the  mention  of  his  name,  I 
cannot  feel  that  I,  who  loved  as  you  loved,  and  sor- 
rowed when  you  sorrowed,  can  be  regarded  as  an 
utter  stranger.  When  it  was  suddenly  announced 
to  me  that  the  Bishop  of  Georgia  had  died,  I  felt 
once  again  as  I  had  felt  in  childhood,  when  it  was 
told  me  my  father  was  no  more. 

Bishop  Elliott  was  one  of  the  three  revered 
Bishops  who  had  set  me  apart,  by  the  imposition 
of  hands,  to  the  office  and  work  of  a  Bishop.  He 
had  presided  as  senior  Bishop  of  the  "  General 
Council "  of  the  Southern  dioceses.  His  experi- 
ence in  the  office  of  a  Bishop  had  extended  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  constituted  him,  by 
general  acclaim,  our  acknowledged,  as  he  was  our 
official,  head.  He  was,  too,  by  birth,  talents,  and 
culture,  our  representative  man  —  the  impersona- 
tion of  many  cherished  sentiments.  All  through 
life  he  had  been  their  champion,  and  we  looked 
to  him  to  be  long  their  vindicator  and  defender. 

You  have  invited  me  here  to  deliver  a  dis- 
course commemorative  of  his  life  and  labors.  I 
held  the  request  as  sacred,  and  yet  I  regretted 
that  the  duty  had  not  devolved  upon  another. 
The  task  requires  —  besides  other  gifts  to  which 


204      REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 

I  make  no  pretension  —  a  degree  of  acquaintance 
with  the  early  and  inner  life  of  the  good  Bishop 
which  I  was  not  privileged  to  enjoy.  One  cannot 
speak  of  another,  as  your  Bishop  should  be  spoken 
of,  unless  he  can  speak  "that  which  he  knows, 
and  testify  to  that  which  he  has  seen." 

It  will  be  the  grateful  task  of  some  intimate 
friend  of  the  bishop  of  Georgia  to  gather  together 
the  reminiscences  of  his  boyhood  —  those  precious 
treasures  which  mothers  are  wont  to  lay  up  in 
their  hearts. 

A  life  so  bright  as  his  must  needs  have  had 
an  auspicious  morning.  It  will  be  the  duty  of 
another  to  tell  the  Church  of  his  early  struggles, 
when,  turning  from  all  the  dreams  of  youth  and 
the  blandishments  of  life,  he  gave  himself,  a  living 
sacrifice,  to  God,  and  laid  upon  His  altar  the 
homage  of  his  heart  and  all  the  wealth  of  his 
nature.  A  bright  earthly  future  stood  before  the 
young  aspirant ;  fond  expectations  were  cherished 
of  his  early  fame ;  but  he  turned  from  them  all. 
Their  light  was  quenched  in  that  brighter  light 
which  met  him  on  the  way,  melted  his  soul  in 
penitence,  and  resolved  for  him  the  great  ques- 
tion of  life,  "Lord,  what  wilt  Thou  have  me  to 
do  ? " 

An  account  of  what  he  was  in  the  earlier 
years  of  his  ministry  we  have  now  no  longer  to 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      20$ 

look  for.  The  Alumni  of  his  Alma  Mater  have 
given  to  us  in  that  memoir,  adopted  and  recently 
published  by  them,  the  most  exquisite  and  truth- 
ful delineation  of  the  man,  the  chaplain,  and  the 
professor.  No  more  affectionate  and  graceful 
tribute  will  ever  be  paid  to  his  memory. 

It  is,  then,  much  to  be  desired  that  some  master- 
hand  shall  take  the  different  views  presented  of 
this  great  man,  shall  group  them,  and  give  to  the 
Church  a  full-size  portrait  of  the  first  Bishop  of 
Georgia.  Let  this  be  done  by  no  inferior  hand. 
It  should  be  such  a  portraiture  as  will  go  down 
to  posterity  with  those  of  our  other  Bishops,  that 
our  children  may  learn  to  know  and  reverence  the 
men  who  lived  and  labored  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Church  in  America. 

I  have  proposed  to  myself  to-day  the  grateful 
though  melancholy  task  of  speaking  of  the  de- 
ceased as  a  Bishop  of  the  Church,  and,  particu- 
larly, in  his  relations  to  the  great  subjects  which 
have  agitated  this  country  during  the  few  last 
eventful  years. 

When  consecrated  to  the  episcopate  of  Georgia, 
in  1841,  Bishop  Elliott,  although  young  in  years 
and  in  office,  very  soon  took  high  rank  among  his 
brethren.  He  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree 
many  of  the  qualities  which  fit  men  to  be  leaders 
and  commanders  among  the  people.  His  form 


2O6      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

was  beautiful  and  manly,  and  his  whole  presence 
majestic  and  imposing.  His  manners  were  re- 
fined and  dignified,  yet  kind  and  conciliating. 
His  intellect  was  large  and  highly  cultivated,  and 
his  views  elevated  and  comprehensive.  His  dis- 
position was  ingenuous  and  affectionate,  and  cal- 
culated to  win  upon  the  affections  of  others.  His 
knowledge  of  his  fellow-men  was  intuitive  and 
profound,  and  his  forbearance  with  their  infirmi- 
ties almost  exhaustless.  To  a  disposition  ever 
ready  to  give  way  in  matters  of  trifling  impor- 
tance, he  united  a  strength  of  conviction  and  a 
firmness  of  purpose  which  would  not  yield  one 
iota  of  principle ;  and  when  roused  to  vindicate 
his  convictions,  he  would  at  times  assert  them 
with  a  vehemence  that  was  well-nigh  overwhelm- 
ing. So  noble  were  his  instincts,  that  you  always 
knew  where  to  find  him,  —  if  not  agreed  with 
others,  yet  agreeing  and  consistent  with  himself. 
A  steady,  brave,  and  true  man  he  was,  and  so  pre- 
cious to  the  Church  that  he  was  loved  and  is 
mourned  by  all  who  seek  her  peace  and  prosper- 
ity. All  these  qualities  marked  him  out  as  a 
leader  among  men.  But  yet  he  could  never  have 
been  the  leader  of  a  party,  for  he  sought  the  truth 
rather  than  victory.  His  views  were  so  large  that 
they  embraced  the  truths  held  by  both  parties  of 
the  Church  ;  and  he  was  found  acting  with  the  one 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2O/ 

or  the  other,  indifferently,  as  in  their  movements 
they  came  within  the  sphere  of  his  convictions. 
He  could  not  have  organized  a  party,  but  he  could 
have  led  a  nation.  He  could  not  have  drilled  a 
caucus,  but  he  electrified  a  people.  Some  of  his 
thoughts,  to  which  he  knew  how  to  give  such 
grand  expression,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the 
men  of  this  generation ;  and  to  this  hour  our 
hearts  thrill  at  their  recollection.  His  experience 
in  the  early  years  of  his  episcopate  differs  in  no 
material  respect  from  that  of  other  Bishops  in  new 
dioceses.  He  found  in  Georgia  a  handful  of  cler- 
gymen, and  some  few  scattered  members  of  the 
Church,  —  not  so  many  as  he  left  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  the  single  congregation  of  Christ  Church, 
Savannah.  About  seven  clergymen  and  three 
hundred  communicants  constituted  the  strength  of 
the  Church  in  Georgia, — a  State  embracing  an 
area  of  fifty-eight  thousand  square  miles.  Over 
this  extended  tract  of  country  he  had  the  oversight 
and  jurisdiction.  The  task  was  one  calculated  to 
test  the  most  sanguine  temperament.  Besides 
the  hindrances  which  all  meet  with  who  preach 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  —  the  innate  depravity 
and  the  carnal  mind,  —  he  was  called  upon  to 
commend  the  usages  of  the  Church  to  a  people 
who  viewed  with  impatience,  if  not  with  sternness, 
every  thing  that  savored  of  ceremonial  observance. 


2O8      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

The  decent  and  comely  robes  of  office,  the 
gravity  and  solemnity  of  the  ritual,  the  due  sub- 
ordination and  reverent  demeanor,  were  all  mat- 
ters of  derision  to  a  people  accustomed  to  the  free 
and  easy  mode  of  extemporaneous  performances. 
At  this  day,  when  the  tastes  of  people  are  set- 
ting, perhaps,  too  indiscriminately  in  an  opposite 
direction,  it  will  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  the  in- 
tense opposition  to  the  usages  of  the  Church  at 
the  time  to  which  I  refer. 

The  plan  of  operations  which  Bishop  Elliott 
proposed  to  himself,  in  view  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  in  hand,  was  to  begin  by  establishing 
strong  central  points  in  every  quarter  of  the  dio- 
cese, and  in  course  of  time  to  work  out  from  these 
centres  into  the  surrounding  rural  districts.  In 
addition  to  his  episcopal  labors,  he  took  upon  him- 
self the  charge  of  a  church  in  Savannah,  thus 
adding  the  cares  of  a  pastor  to  the  laborious  work 
of  a  Bishop  —  an  experiment,  I  hope,  not  to  be  re- 
peated. At  an  early  day,  however,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  education  of  the  young,  and  gave 
up  his  charge  at  Savannah  to  take  charge  of  the 
Female  Institute  at  Montpelier.  It  will  be  the 
pleasing  task  of  the  future  biographer  to  trace  out 
in  detail  the  particulars  of  Bishop  Elliott's  con- 
nection with  the  Institute  at  Montpelier.  I  make 
the  declaration,  however,  —  and  his  biography  will 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2OQ 

supply  the  proof,  —  that  his  whole  course  in  con- 
nection with  the  Institute  at  Montpelier  was  dic- 
tated by  a  spirit  so  noble  and  self-sacrificing  that 
he  placed  himself  above  the  comprehension  of  or- 
dinary minds.  Men  cannot  well  conceive  of  the 
existence  of  motives  so  much  raised  above  the 
ordinary  level.  Bishop  Elliott  took  hold  of  that 
enterprise,  and  invited  upon  himself  the  full  re- 
sponsibility of  all  its  load  of  debt,  with  much  the 
same  spirit  that  one  would  volunteer  to  embark 
upon,  and  take  command  of,  a  sinking  ship. 
Through  what  trial  and  suffering,  and  clouds  of 
misapprehension,  he  was  called  to  pass,  few  know, 
—  only  God,  who  knoweth  all  things,  and  the  true 
woman  whose  heart  shared  all  his  solicitudes.  He 
was  not  bound  to  undertake  the  responsibility  by 
any  legal  obligation  whatsoever.  The  debts  con- 
tracted before  his  connection  with  the  Institute 
were  in  no  way  binding  upon  him,  but  he  felt  that 
the  honor  of  the  Church  might  in  some  way  be  in- 
volved ;  and  he  determined,  that,  sink  or  swim,  he 
would  venture  all  upon  it.  And  all  was  ventured, 
and  all  was  lost  save  honor  and  the  consciousness 
of  duty  attempted.  According  to  the  rules  of 
arithmetic,  it  was  but  a  sorry  venture :  viewed  in 
the  light  of  the  motives  which  inspired  him,  it  ap- 
proached the  sphere  of  martyrdom.  Had  he  been 
less  self-sacrificing,  he  would  have  obtained  more 


2IO      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

credit  from  the  world,  which  always  looks  for  mo- 
tives on  its  own  level.  Men  could  not  understand 
how  one  could  risk  so  much  without  some  motive 
of  ultimate  gain.  When  that  history  shall  have 
been  written,  and  the  amount  of  sacrifice  made 
known,  the  people  of  Georgia  will,  with  new  sur- 
prise, understand  who  and  what  the  Bishop  was 
who  taught  them  the  great  lesson  of  self-sacrifice. 
In  all  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-man,  he  illus- 
trated the  idea  of  honor  so  delicately  drawn  by 
the  hand  of  a  master  :  — 

"  Say,  what  is  Honor  ?    'Tis  the  finest  sense 
Of  justice  which  the  human  mind  can  frame, 
Intent  each  lurking  frailty  to  disclaim, 
And  guard  the  way  of  life  from  all  offence 
Suffered  or  done." 

But  the  scheme  did  not  turn  out  as  he  had 
hoped  and  willed.  Few  came  to  his  aid  ;  and  he 
turned,  with  a  heart  almost  broken  with  disap- 
pointment, to  his  remaining  duties.  It  is  pleasing 
now  to  learn  that  one  of  his  latest  acts  was  to  lay 
the  corner-stone  of  a  chapel  at  the  Montpelier 
Institute.  The  rock  which  supplied  the  material 
was  gathered  together  by  himself  some  twenty 
years  before.  It  was  a  source  of  peculiar  pleasure 
to  him  to  witness  the  revival  and  prosperity  of 
his  much-loved  school ;  and  his  face  was  seen  to 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      211 

beam  once  more,  as  of  old,  with  the  light  of  hope 
and  pleasure.  Thus  have  we  seen  the  clouds 
lift  at  sunset,  and  open  to  us  a  glimpse  of  parting 
day. 

We  come  now  to  trace  the  course  of  the  Bishop 
of  Georgia  through  a  stormy  period  in  the  history 
of  this  country.  It  becomes  necessary  to  refer  to 
this  period,  not  with  the  view  of  reviving  the  re- 
membrance of  a  past  conflict,  but  to  rescue  from 
unmerited  reproach  the  memory  of  a  Bishop  of 
the  Church,  whose  highest  aim  had  ever  been  to 
set  forth  peace  and  quietness  among  all  people, 
and  to  know  nothing  among  men  save  Jesus 
Christ  and  Him  crucified.  If  he  ever  breathed 
words  which  savored  of  strife,  it  was  that  a  sure 
and  lasting  peace  might  thereby  be  established, 
and  good  will  more  certainly  prevail.  Certain 
fanatical  ideas  had  assumed  a  dangerous  and 
threatening  attitude  toward  the  institutions  of 
the  South.  Casting  aside  the  traditions  of  the 
past,  the  teachings  of  statesmen,  philosophers, 
and  fathers,  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  sanctions  of 
a  solemn  political  compact,  —  this  pestilent  heresy 
dared  even  to  lay  its  hand  upon  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant,  and  to  deny  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Word  of  God  in  the  last  appeal.  It  was  this 
moral  and  religious  feature  of  the  movement  in 
question  which  called  into  active  opposition  the 


212      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

clergy  of  the  South,  and  forced  them  to  become 
prominent  in  the  conflict  which  soon  ensued. 
They  were  called  upon,  not  only  to  clear  them- 
selves from  the  imputation  of  a  grievous  crime, 
but  —  and  this  more  deeply  concerned  them  —  to 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Word  of  God,  and 
the  teachings  of  universal  tradition.  Whenever 
there  is  a  conflict  of  principles,  the  men  will 
always  be  found  who  are  raised  up  for  the  crisis, 
—  prophets  who  discern  the  coming  evil,  and  men 
of  nerve  and  will  to  vindicate  and  defend  the 
right. 

Bishop  Elliott  stood  out  prominently  in  his 
sphere,  and  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature  (as 
did  Bishop  Meade  of  Virginia)  addressed  himself 
to  the  discharge  of  his  full  duty.  At  an  early 
day  he  had  discerned  the  signs  of  the  times,  and 
foresaw,  with  extraordinary  distinctness,  the  ulti- 
mate tendencies  of  the  whole  movement.  It  was 
at  first  a  conflict  of  ideas,  and  ideas  could  only  be 
met  by  ideas.  The  Bishops  of  the  Southern  dio- 
ceses, Bishop  Polk  taking  the  lead,  together  with 
divers  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  set  themselves  to 
the  establishment  of  a  seat  of  learning,  to  be 
called  the  "  University  of  the  South,"  which,  it 
was  hoped,  in  time,  might  take  rank  writh  the 
universities  of  the  Old  World,  and  become  the 
great  educator  of  Southern  youth.  It  was  a  vital 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      213 

part  of  the  plan,  that  this  University  should  be 
placed  under  the  entire  guardianship  of  this  our 
pure  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  whose  faith- 
ful allegiance  to  God's  Holy  Word,  and  traditional 
reverence  for  catholic  truth,  might  lend  the  sanc- 
tities of  a  sound  faith  to  sweeten  the  sources  of 
knowledge,  and  give  a  right  direction  to  all  its 
power. 

The  whole  scheme  was  projected  upon  a  scale 
commensurate  with  the  grandeur  of  the  design. 
The  good  Bishop  and  his  equally  zealous  coadju- 
tors have  been  blamed  by  some  for  the  magnitude 
of  their  aims,  and  plan  of  operations,  but,  I  think, 
most  unjustly.  Why  is  it  that  the  interests  of 
knowledge  and  religion  do  not  justify  the  same 
generous  expenditure  that  is  lavished  upon  objects 
of  merely  material  importance  ?  Millions  will  be 
subscribed  to  establish,  and  even  to  shorten,  lines 
of  communication  and  travel.  The  projectors  of 
such  schemes  are  hailed  with  ovations  as  the  bene- 
factors of  their  race.  It  is,  for  the  most  part,  only 
when  enterprises  are  started  which  look  to  the 
interests  of  men's  hearts  and  minds,  that  their 
advocates  are  regarded  as  visionary  and  extrava- 
gant. Is  it  that  the  worthy  Bishop  and  his  coad- 
jutors were  too  grand  in  their  aims,  or  that  his 
critics  were  too  grovelling  ?  The  truth  is,  the 
man  of  whom  I  speak  to-day  was  a  man  of  large 


214      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

proportions :  he  was  made  upon  a  large  scale. 
The  traditions  of  his  house  and  his  personal  cul- 
ture rendered  him  dissatisfied  with  whatever  was 
inelegant  and  incomplete.  Whatsoever  he  did, 
even  in  matters  of  comparatively  small  importance, 
he  did  with  a  certain  nameless  grace  and  elegance. 
There  was  in  his  dress  and  conversation,  and  in 
his  correspondence,  —  even  to  the  penmanship  and 
paper,  —  a  finish  which  was  quite  characteristic. 
This  elegance,  amounting  perhaps  to  fastidious- 
ness of  taste,  may  have  disqualified  him  for  certain 
rough  details  of  duty,  but  it  eminently  fitted  him 
to  take  the  lead  in  every  thing  that  was  grand  and 
beautiful ;  and  it  is  the  ordination  of  Providence 
that  each  man  shall  serve  in  his  own  lot  and  after 
his  own  order.  Never  was  an  enterprise  com- 
menced under  better  auspices,  and  attended  with 
more  encouraging  tokens  of  success,  than  the 
University  of  the  South.  It  promised  to  supply  a 
great  want,  and  appealed  to  the  deepest  sympa- 
thies of  all  who  could  take  in  the  magnitude  of 
the  interests  involved.  Bishops  Polk  and  Elliott 
—  twin-brothers  in  life,  and  in  death  not  long 
divided  —  gave  themselves  to  the  personal  task 
ef  canvassing  the  Southern  States.  The  South- 
ern people  met  their  appeals  for  endowments  with 
a  generous  response.  The  site  was  procured,  the 
grounds  were  marked  out,  and  the  foundation  of 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      215 

the  building  was  laid.  The  Bishop  of  Vermont 
(Hopkins) — clarum  et  venembile  nomen  —  gave 
his  invaluable  counsel  and  presence  in  the  prelimi- 
nary work. 

Such  was  the  attitude  of  things  when  the  storm, 
which  had  been  so  long  brewing,  burst  forth,  and 
the  thick  cloud  of  war  settled  down  upon  the  land. 
The  interests  of  this  cherished  University  suffered 
peculiar  loss.  The  fortunes  which  had  been 
pledged  to  its  erection  and  support  were  swept 
away ;  and  its  munificent  patrons  are  now  either 
exiles  from  their  native  land,  or  are  struggling 
under  unkindly  influences  for  their  daily  bread. 
Even  the  foundation-stone,  which  had  been  laid  in 
faith  and  prayer,  was  rudely  torn  from  its  bed,  and 
despoiled  of  its  sacred  treasures.  The  object  of 
this  institution  was  distinct  and  widely  known,  — 
to  educate  in  harmony  with  Southern  ideas, — and 
upon  its  devoted  head  came  the  full  force  of  the 
opposing  element ;  as  when  the  lightning  consumes 
the  shaft  which  vainly  aims  to  avert  its  fury,  and 
conduct  it  harmlessly  to  the  ground. 

Inscrutable  is  the  will  of  God,  that  so  many  of 
man's  noblest  efforts  should  seem  to  be  in  vain,  and 
wickedness  and  violence  be  permitted  a  temporary 
triumph.  Impenetrable  mysteries  are  these,  which 
baffle  the  highest  reason.  Priceless  blessings  will 
they  be,  if  they  teach  us  to  say  in  faith,  "  Even 


2l6      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

so,    Father:    for    so    it    seemed    good    in    Thy 
sight." 

Into  that  mighty  conflict  which  ensued,  Bishop 
Elliott  threw  himself  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  soul ;  and  he  never  disavowed  his  deeds,  and 
never  repented  of  them. 

"  Fortuna  non  mutat  genus." 

In  this  presence,  and  by  the  recent  grave  which 
should  enclose,  if  possible,  all  painful  and  unavail- 
ing memories,  it  does  not  become  me,  nor  have  I 
the  desire,  to  speak  of  the  past  in  its  political  and 
sectional  aspects.  But  it  does  become  me,  and  I 
hold  it  to  be  my  sacred  duty,  —  a  duty  which  he 
would  have  faithfully  performed  for  me,  —  to  see 
that  no  nettles  shall  be  planted  on  his  grave.  We 
bury  our  dead,  but  they  are  not  forgotten,  nor 
shall  their  tombs  be  dishonored. 

We  can  recall  —  shall  we  ever  forget  it  ?  — 
those  memorable  discourses  of  the  Bishop,  which 
spoke  with  trumpet-tongue  through  this  land,  re- 
viving the  hearts  of  the  fearful  and  desponding, 
reminding  the  people  of  God's  wonders  in  the 
olden  time,  telling  them  how  that  "out  of  the 
eater  came  forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came 
forth  sweetness."  Those  glowing  prophecies, 
conceived  in  as  sublime  faith  as  ever  inspired  the 
seers  of  old,  were  not  fulfilled  in  the  form  in  which 
they  appeared  to  his  own  rapt  vision.  Far-seeing 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2 1/ 

as  man  may  be,  God  sees  farther  still.  Great  and 
far-reaching  as  may  be  the  plans  of  man,  they  fall 
short  of  the  Divine  plan.  God  alone  is  great  and 
wise  and  good.  Poor,  narrow,  short-sighted  man  ! 

—  he  lives  in  his  little  world,  of  which  he  and  his 
loved  ideas  constitute  the  centre.    Is  it  wonderful, 
then,  that  man,  the  wisest  man,  should  be  doomed 
to  perpetual  mistakes  and  disappointments  ?     We 
propose   for  ourselves :   God   disposes  for  others 
also.     We  plan  for  a  part :  He  arranges  for  the 
whole.     The  universe  is  the  theatre  of  the  Divine 
plan,  and  eternity  alone  shall  give  scope  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  vision. 

Truth  shall  ultimately  prevail,  and  wrong  shall 
be  put  down,  and  justice  shall  be  vindicated,  but 

—  and  here  is  our  common  mistake  —  not  accord- 
ing to  our  desires  and  judgments  and  purposes. 
Not  in  the  forms  which  we  have  fashioned  for 
them,  but  in   more  glorious  and  abiding  beauty 
shall  our  buried  hopes  attain  unto  their  resurrec- 
tion.     We  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
but  that  body  which  we  sow  is  not  that  body  that 
shall   be ;  but    God   giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath 
pleased  Him,  and  to  every  seed  his  own  body.     It 
may  be   "  sown  in  dishonor,  it  shall  be  raised  in 
glory." 

These  are  the  revelations  from  Heaven  which 
come  to  us  as  we  stand  by  the  graves  of  our  loved 


21 8      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

ones,  and  bid  us  look  up  from  the  dust  and  dis- 
honor, as  it  goes  to  earth  and  corruption,  to  those 
glorious  forms  in  which  we  shall  greet  them  on 
the  morning  of  their  resurrection. 

It  has  been  charged  upon  Bishop  Elliott  and 
upon  others,  that  they  have  at  times  over-stepped 
the  limits  of  their  calling,  and  have  brought  into 
the  pulpit,  themes  other  than  those  which  are 
given  them  in  trust  by  their  Master.  It  may  be 
so.  I  am  not  here  to  speak  of  my  brother,  or  any 
other  sinful  man,  as  faultless.  One  of  the  curses 
of  this  day  and  generation  is  the  fulsome  and  in- 
discriminate eulogy  which  is  poured  forth  in  obit- 
uaries and  funeral  discourses.  No  wonder  that 
the  world  looks  upon  our  humbling  confessions  of 
guilt  and  unworthiness  as  cant  and  hypocrisy, 
when  so  much  of  perfection  is  claimed  for  the 
living  and  the  dead.  Bishops  are  fashioned  out 
of  men.  Earthen  vessels  are  they,  to  whom  a 
heavenly  treasure  is  intrusted.  More  than  human 
would  they  have  been,  if  under  that  tremendous 
pressure  of  feeling,  the  recollection  of  which,  even 
now  at  times,  causes  a  tightening  of  the  chest,  their 
thoughts  had  not  sometimes  overflowed  in  strong 
and  resistless  expression.  The  good  Bishop  was 
not  more  than  human.  Indeed,  it  was  his  human- 
ness  that  constituted  his  peculiar  charm,  and  at- 
tracted to  him  all  our  hearts. 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      2IQ 

There  is  a  something,  less  than  human,  which 
will  never  offend  after  this  manner.  There  is  a 
cold-blooded  indifference,  which  cannot  be  roused 
in  holy  indignation,  and  it  may  pass  for  great 
moderation  ;  there  is  a  time-serving  timidity  which 
shrinks  from  the  consequences  of  a  deed  of  daring, 
and  it  may  pass  for  great  prudence ;  there  is  a 
calculating  policy  which  gauges  all  questions  by 
the  standard  of  profit  and  loss,  and  it  will  pass  for 
great  sagacity.  Men  of  this  stamp  can  go  through 
the  fire  unharmed,  because  there  is  no  material  in 
them  to  be  kindled.  These  are  the  less  than 
human. 

Bishop  Elliott  was  not  a  man  of  a  timid  and 
calculating  nature.  He  had  been  reared  in  the 
school  of  honor,  whose  teachings,  when  subli- 
mated by  the  grace  of  God,  impel  men  to  dare  all 
consequences  in  the  assertion  and  maintenance  of 
the  right.  He  had  not  been  his  father's  son,  he 
had  been  recreant  to  his  whole  race,  if,  in  a  ques- 
tion of  sentiment  and  principle,  he  had  paused  to 
calculate  the  consequences  by  any  standard  of 
earthly  profit.  It  is  this  spirit  —  travestied  in 
the  code  of  worldly  honor  —  which  inspired  the 
noble  army  of  martyrs,  and  made  them  to  rejoice 
that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame 
and  death  for  a  cause  which  they  honored  and 
espoused. 


22O      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

When  men  such  as  these  fall  into  error,  it  is 
after  their  own  manner,  and  in  the  line  of  their 
own  nature.  They  are  incapable  of  meanness, 
cowardice,  and  treachery ;  but  when  their  indigna- 
tion is  aroused,  they  are  prone  to  overflow  the 
bounds  of  moderation.  Errors  of  this  kind  are 
wont  to  be  found  in  connection  with  generous 
and  impassioned  temperaments.  These  are  the 
infirmities  which  God  knoweth,  and,  as  a  Father, 
pitieth ;  and,  blessed  be  His  holy  name,  when  re- 
pented of,  are,  with  sins  of  a  deeper  dye,  washed 
away  in  the  most  precious  blood  of  Christ,  and 
remembered  no  more  forever. 

But  there  is  something  more  that  must  be  said 
in  this  connection.  It  happens,  oftentimes,  that 
questions  of  morals  and  religion  are  so  closely 
interwoven  with  political  ideas  and  events,  that 
it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  quite  impossible,  to 
handle  the  one  without  touching  the  other.  Es- 
pecially is  this  the  case  when  moral  ideas  seize 
upon  the  reins  of  power,  and  become  aggressive 
and  coercive. 

Bishop  Elliott  had  imbibed  strong  and  distinct 
political  ideas.  They  were  a  portion  of  his  in- 
heritance ;  they  were  the  traditions  of  his  race 
and  of  his  house  ;  they  mingled  in  his  nurture, 
and  he  held  them  with  all  the  strength  of  his 
strong  nature.  Of  these  I  shall  not  further 


THE   LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      221 

speak :  they  belong  not  to  this  occasion,  nor  to 
the  purpose  of  this  discourse.  But  there  was  an 
element  mingled  with  the  recent  conflict,  not 
only  of  a  political  and  social  character,  but  one 
involving  a  great  question  of  morals,  and  possess- 
ing a  deep  philanthropic  and  religious  interest. 

In  these  Southern  States,  there  was  to  be  found 
a  race  of  people  distinct  in  color  and  in  social 
position  from  the  ruling  race.  This  amiable  and 
docile  people  grew  up  with  us  in  our  houses,  were 
our  playmates  in  childhood,  and  became,  in  after- 
life, our  trusted  friends  and  dependants. 

Into  the  secret  of  that  tender  bond,  which 
united  the  two  races,  a  stranger  cannot  enter. 
This  people  became  gradually  Christianized. 
Their  habits  of  subordination  to  their  earthly 
master  inclined  them  to  an  easier  submission  to 
the  will  of  God.  Their  obedience,  once  inwrought, 
naturally  went  forth  to  every  object  of  reverence 
and  authority.  It  would  be  difficult  for  any  one 
to  recall  the  instance  of  an  infidel  among  them, 
and  their  submission  to  the  will  of  Heaven  was 
proverbial.  All  this  sprang  naturally  from 

"  The  ingrained  instinct  of  old  reverence, 
The  holy  habit  of  obediency." 

As  the  influences  of  Christianity  continued  to 
extend  among  the  masters,  the  relation  between 


222      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

them  and  their  servants  became  less  and  less 
mercenary,  and  more  and  more  patriarchal.  It 
may  be  safely  affirmed  that  there  lived  not  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth  a  class  of  people,  occupying 
the  social  position  of  our  slaves,  who  were  better 
cared  for,  and  better  remunerated  for  their  labor. 
The  Southern  system  had  solved  the  most  diffi- 
cult question  in  political  economy.  To  feed  and 
clothe  well  the  laborer ;  to  take  care  of  the  chil- 
dren, the  aged,  and  the  sick ;  to  prevent  pauper- 
ism ;  to  dimmish  blindness,  muteness,  and  lunacy, 
those  sure  indications  of  physical  deterioration ; 
and  to  insure  the  steady  growth  of  population,  — 
has  been  a  task  too  great  for  the  political  econo- 
mist. It  will  not  need  to  take  the  testimony  of 
Southern  people  upon  this  point.  The  dominant 
party  in  this  country  do  now  declare  —  whether 
rightly  or  not,  I  am  not  now  considering  —  that 
this  race,  just  now  emancipated,  is  not  only  en- 
titled to  all  the  privileges,  but  capable  of  dis- 
charging all  the  duties,  of  American  citizenship  ; 
and  yet  the  ancestors  of  this  people,  a  few  years 
ago,  were  heathen  savages  in  the  wilds  of  Africa. 
What  Christian  mission,  in  the  same  space  of 
time,  has  accomplished  the  same  results  for  any 
heathen  nation,  that  have  been  wrought  out  for 
this  people  in  their  connection  with  Southern 
influence,  at  Southern  firesides  ? 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      22$ 

Bishop  Elliott  was  the  type  of  the  best  South- 
ern men  in  all  his  relations  to  this  unhappy 
race.  Understanding,  as  none  but  a  Southern 
man  brought  up  with  them  can  understand,  their 
childlike  helplessness  and  dependence,  and  believ- 
ing that  the  maintenance  of  existing  relations 
was  necessary  to  their  continued  existence  and 
well-being  as  a  people,  for  time  and  eternity,  he 
took  his  stand  by  their  side,  and  strove  with  all 
his  might  to  avert  what  he  deemed  their  ruin, 
and  became  the  impassioned  advocate  of  their 
cause.  He  who  cannot  understand  what  I  am 
now  saying,  cannot  comprehend  the  man  of  whom 
I  am  speaking. 

I  do  not  desire  to  be  understood  as  now  dis- 
cussing the  merits  of  this  vexed  question  in  any 
form.  It  is  practically  settled,  and  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  all  that  it  should  not  be  disturbed. 
But  I  am  here  to  see  that  the  memory  of  a  great 
and  good  Bishop  is  vindicated,  and  that  his  promi- 
nence, in  what  appeared  to  him  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  religion,  should  never  be  con- 
founded with  the  notoriety  of  those  men  who  dis- 
cuss party  politics  when  they  should  preach  Jesus 
Christ.  I  do  proclaim,  and  will  forever  maintain, 
that  the  motives  of  Bishop  Elliott  and  of  kindred 
spirits,  in  their  efforts  to  perpetuate,  at  least  for 
a  while,  the  relation  of  master  and  servant,  were 


224      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

noble,  patriotic,  unselfish,  and  Christian.  He 
foresaw,  or  thought  he  foresaw,  —  which  is  the 
same  thing,  so  far  as  the  motive  is  involved,  — 
that  the  sudden  disruption  of  the  bond  between 
him  and  the  people  he  loved  and  cared  for,  would 
surely  tend  to  their  gradual  deterioration  and  to 
their  ultimate  extinction.  He  felt  that  it  would 
be  a  frightful  wrong  ;  and  he  rose  up  like  a  giant 
in  all  his  strength,  and  said,  virtually,  "This  must 
not  be ;  and,  God  being  my  helper,  this  shall  not 
be."  He  may  have  been  mistaken,  for  it  is  human 
to  err.  If  he  was,  it  was  his  infirmity,  and  not 
his  fault.  His  whole  life  presents  a  clear  record 
in  regard  to  that  people  to  whom  he  was  bound 
by  a  thousand  ties  of  affection,  and  by  the  ten- 
derest  remembrances  of  mutual  service. 

He  cared  for  them  in  every  way,  and  sought  to 
bring  to  them  all  the  elevating  and  consoling 
truths  of  the  Holy  Gospel.  His  labors  were 
richly  blessed.  He  saw  them  gathering  by  hun- 
dreds under  the  wings  of  the  Church,  and  becom- 
ing partakers  with  him  of  the  same  altar ;  and  his 
affectionate  nature  was  gladdened  by  the  specta- 
cle. When  the  downfall  came,  he  sorrowed  most 
of  all  for  the  poor,  unhappy  beings,  who,  suddenly 
and  by  an  unlooked-for  providence,  had  been 
bereft  of  their  wonted  guardianship,  and  con- 
signed to  what  seemed  a  hopeless  orphanage. 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      22$ 

Even  then  he  ceased  not  to  love  and  care  for 
them.  Hear  how  he  speaks  in  his  last  address 
to  his  sons  of  the  clergy :  "  Love  must  go  along 
with  it "  (the  work  of  the  Church  for  them)  ; 
"  gratitude  for  their  past  services ;  memories  of 
our  infancy  and  childhood  ;  thoughts  of  the  glory 
which  will  accrue  to  us,  when  we  shall  lead  these 
people,  once  our  servants,  but  not  now  as  ser- 
vants, but  above  servants,  as  brethren  beloved, 
and  present  them  to  Christ  as  our  offering  of 
repentance  for  what  we  may  have  failed  to  fulfil 
in  the  past  of  our  trust." 

But  Bishop  Elliott's  position  was  peculiarly 
prominent  in  the  ecclesiastical  movements  which 
took  place  upon  the  outbreak  of  civil  war.  Hap- 
pily, under  the  protection  of  God's  good  provi- 
dence, our  branch  of  the  Church  in  the  United 
States  had  kept  herself  aloof  from  the  agitation 
of  all  sectional  and  political  questions  ;  and  her 
legislation,  the  natural  outgrowth  of  her  spirit, 
had  been  uniformly  church-like  and  catholic. 
The  earthly  alloy  of  political  ideas,  which  had 
disintegrated  the  various  denominational  bodies, 
had  never  entered  into  her  legislative  halls.  The 
General  Convention,  which  met  in  Richmond  in 
1859,  will  long  be  remembered  for  the  Christian 
charity  and  harmony  which  marked  all  its  deliber- 
ations. It  was  composed  of  clergymen  and  lay- 


226      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

men  from  every  section  of  the  country ;  and  yet 
when  the  first  overt  act  of  fanatical  aggression 
took  place  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State 
of  Virginia,  in  whose  capital  they  were  assembled, 
the  event,  which  shook  the  whole  country  to  its 
centre,  did  not  stir  a  ripple  upon  the  surface  of 
debate.  The  whole  movement,  therefore,  of  the 
Southern  dioceses,  looking  to  a  separate  organiza- 
tion, was  the  result  of  a  sheer  physical  necessity, 
as  if  an  abyss  had  suddenly  yawned  between  the 
two  sections.  We  mark  the  recognition  of  this 
fact  in  the  letter  of  the  Bishops,  which  summoned 
the  Southern  dioceses  to  meet,  by  their  deputies, 
in  the  city  of  Montgomery.  This  letter,  signed 
by  Bishops  Polk  and  Elliott,  the  senior  bishops  of 
the  then  seceded  States,  distinctly  states  that 
"  this  necessity  (for  a  convention  of  the  Southern 
dioceses)  does  not  arise  out  of  any  dissension 
which  has  occurred  within  the  Church  itself,  not 
out  of  any  dissatisfaction  with  either  the  doctrine 
or  discipline  of  the  Church.  We  rejoice  to  record 
the  fact  that  we  are  to-day,  as  Churchmen,  as  truly 
brethren  as  we  have  ever  been,  and  that  no  deed 
has  been  done,  nor  word  uttered,  which  leaves  a 
single  wound  rankling  in  the  breast.  We  are 
still  one  in  faith,  in  purpose,  and  in  hope  ;  but 
political  changes,  forced  upon  us  by  a  stern  neces- 
sity, have  occurred,  which  have  placed  our  dio- 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      22/ 

ceses  in   a  position   requiring   consultation  as  to 
our  future  ecclesiastical  relations." 

In  pursuance  of  this  call,  deputies  from  some 
of  the  Southern  dioceses  met  together,  first  at 
Montgomery,  held  an  adjourned  session  in  the  en- 
suing autumn  at  Columbia,  and  there  framed  the 
constitution  and  canons  which  subsequently  be- 
came the  laws  of  the  "  General  Council  of  the 
Church  in  the  Southern  States."  In  all  the  pre 
liminary  proceedings,  Bishop  Elliott  took  a  leading 
part,  and  showed  himself  a  master  of  assemblies. 
It  is  pleasing  now  to  recall  the  exquisite  tact  with 
which  he  guided  the  deliberations  of  the  house  to 
the  end  proposed ;  how  patient  he  was  of  opposi- 
tion, how  respectful  he  was  to  the  opinions  of 
others,  how  easy  to  compromise  in  matters  indif- 
ferent, and  how  unbending  and  intensely  in  ear- 
nest when  asserting  the  truth  and  right.  It  is 
difficult  to  conceive  any  thing  finer  than  his  whole 
bearing.  It  has  left  upon  the  mind  the  impres- 
sion that  is  left  by  a  beautiful  dream,  —  alas,  too 
soon  vanished !  When  we  look  at  the  results  of 
this  legislation,  we  see  but  little  to  mark  the  dif- 
ference between  the  constitution  and  canons  of 
the  General  Convention  and  those  of  the  General 
Council.  But  this  was  the  important  end  attained, 
—  that  there  was  so  little  of  change  effected, 
where  the  opportunity  for  change  was  so  bound- 


228      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

less.  The  result  is  given  by  Bishop  Elliott  him- 
self, with  characteristic  felicity,  in  the  Pastoral  of 
the  General  Council.  "  The  Constitution  is  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Church  from  which  we  have 
been  providentially  separated,  save  that  we  have 
introduced  into  it  a  germ  of  expansion  which  was 
wanting  in  the  old  Constitution."  "The  Canon 
law  is  the  same  moderate,  just,  and  equal  body  of 
ecclesiastical  law  by  which  the  Church  has  been 
governed  on  this  continent  since  her  reception 
from  the  Church  of  England  of  the  treasures  of 
an  Apostolic  ministry  and  a  liturgical  form  of  wor- 
ship." Upon  the  death  of  Bishop  Meade,  —  that 
true  and  brave  old  Bishop,  whose  very  name  is  a 
tower  of  strength,  —  Bishop  Elliott  became  the 
senior  Bishop  of  the  "General  Council."  The 
Pastoral  set  forth  at  the  first  session  of  that  body 
was  the  production  of  his  pen,  and  (in  the  lan- 
guage of  "The  Church  Journal")  "in  elevation  of 
tone,  in  dignity,  force,  and  beauty  of  style,  has 
been  surpassed  by  no  Pastoral  ever  issued  in  this 
country."  The  spirit  which  pervaded  this  Coun- 
cil was  the  self-same  spirit  which  presided  in  the 
councils  of  the  blessed  Apostles,  and  they  who 
were  permitted  to  take  part  in  its  deliberations 
will  ever  fondly  recur  to  its  sessions  as  privileged 
beyond  the  ordinary  assemblies  of  men.  There 
was  a  Bishop  at  its  head  unto  whom  utterance  had 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      22Q 

been  given ;  and  he  sent  forth  to  the  world  those 
words  of  peace  and  good  will  which  then  sounded 
so  sweet  amid  the  din  of  war,  and  are  now  so 
precious  to  us,  who  are  gathering  together  these 
mementos  of  his  worth  and  excellence.  In  his 
own  glowing  words,  "Our  first  duty,  therefore,  as 
the  children  of  God,  is  to  send  forth  from  this 
Council  our  greetings  of  love  to  the  Churches  of 
God  all  the  world  over.  We  greet  them  in  Christ, 
and  rejoice  that  they  are  partakers  with  us  of  all 
grace  which  is  treasured  up  in  Him.  We  lay  down 
to-day  before  the  altar  of  the  Crucified  all  our  bur- 
dens of  sin,  and  offer  our  prayers  for  the  Church 
Militant  upon  earth.  Whatever  may  be  their 
aspect  towards  us  politically,  we  cannot  forget 
that  they  rejoice  with  us  in  the  one  Lord,  the  one 
faith,  the  one  baptism,  the  one  God  and  Father  of 
all ;  and  we  wish  them  God-speed  in  all  the  sacred 
ministries  of  the  Church.  Nothing  but  love  is 
consonant  with  the  exhibition  of  Christ's  love 
which  is  manifested  to  His  Church  ;  and  any  note 
of  man's  bitterness,  except  against  sin,  would  be  a 
sound  of  discord  mingling  with  the  sweet  harmo- 
nies of  earth  and  Heaven.  We  rejoice  in  this 
golden  cord,  which  binds  us  together  in  Christ  our 
Redeemer  ;  and  like  the  ladder  which  Jacob  saw 
in  a  vision,  with  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and 
descending  upon  it,  may  it  ever  be  the  channel 


230      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

along  which  shall  flash  the  Christian  greetings  of 
the  children  of  God  !  " 

The  General  Council  no  longer  has  an  exist- 
ence. It  had  fully  accomplished  its  temporary 
mission  in  holding  compactly  together  for  a 
while  the  Southern  dioceses,  and  in  affording 
scope  for  their  mutual  helpfulness.  When  the 
results  of  war  had  fused  the  contending  sections 
into  one  nationality,  and  after  the  General  Con- 
vention had  met  and  renewedly  illustrated  its  tra- 
ditional spirit,  the  General  Council  came  together, 
released  the  several  dioceses  from  their  pledges  of 
union,  declared  them  free  in  good  faith  to  renew 
old  relations,  and  adjourned  with  the  general  un- 
derstanding that  there  were  no  longer  any  suffi- 
cient grounds  upon  which  a  Churchman  should 
desire  to  maintain  a  separate  organization.  I 
doubt  if  there  is  in  history  a  more  striking  exem- 
plification of  the  working  of  the  true  Church  spirit 
than  is  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  the  two 
ecclesiastical  bodies  which  met  at  Philadelphia 
and  Augusta  in  the  autumn  of  1865. 

I  dwell  at  this  time  upon  this  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church,  because  the  life  of  Bishop 
Elliott  occupies  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  history 
of  the  whole  movement,  and  because  there  are 
many  who  have  misconceived,  and  in  some  in- 
stances have  misrepresented,  the  motives  by 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA. 

which  he  was  actuated.  He  was  one  of  the  two 
Bishops  who  called  together  the  Southern  dioceses 
in  council ;  and  he  it  was,  who,  at  a  later  period, 
set  forth  most  emphatically  the  terms  deemed 
essential  to  re-union.  The  General  Council  had 
performed  certain  acts,  and  those  acts,  he  said, 
must  be  ratified.  They  were  so  ratified.  There 
were  no  concessions  made  on  either  side,  and  none 
were  asked.  There  was  no  occasion  for  the  dis- 
play of  magnanimity,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation 
of  the  term.  The  course  pursued  by  both  parties 
was  sensible,  right,  and  churchlike.  The  wound, 
if  there  was  any,  healed,  as  in  all  healthy  bodies 
it  will,  by  first  intention.  I  have  spoken  with 
confidence  of  Bishop  Elliott's  course  and  motives 
during  this  period  of  his  life,  because  I  know 
whereof  I  affirm,  and  because  it  was  during  this 
period  that  I  first  made  his  intimate  acquaintance. 
We  felt  and  thought  and  acted  together.  To- 
gether we  resolved  to  meet  our  brethren  in  Gen- 
eral Council,  and  to  be  governed  as  circumstances 
might  direct  —  if  it  should  seem  best  —  to  undo 
our  work  with  the  same  deliberation  with  which  it 
had  been  done,  and  with  what  we  deemed  to  be  a 
due  regard  to  the  interests  of  all  concerned.  And 
I  may  mention  here,  as  illustrative  of  the  Bishop's 
character,  that  when,  having  all  things  in  readi- 
ness to  declare  the  accession  of  his  diocese  to  the 


232      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

General  Convention,  he  found  that  the  sister 
cese  of  Alabama  was  suffering  from  a  military 
intrusion,  he  took  no  step  until  advised  that  the 
intrusion  had  been  withdrawn,  and  that  the  dio- 
cese was  free  to  act  in  concert  with  his  own.  So 
true  to  nobleness  were  all  his  instincts.  Some 
zealous  and  overheated  minds  have  expressed  sur- 
prise that  Bishop  Elliott  and  some  others  should 
have  consented  to  a  re-union  of  the  Church.  But 
they  neither  comprehended  the  man  nor  the  spirit 
of  the  Church.  It  had  been  an  easy  task  for  him 
to  have  led  a  separate  party,  and  he  might  thereby 
have  gained  a  transient  popularity.  But  he  had 
higher  aims.  He  loved  the  Church  of  God ;  ay, 
above  his  chief  joy,  he  sought  her  peace  and  pros- 
perity ;  and  with  that  sweep  of  vision  and  that 
largeness  of  soul  with  which  he  was  so  richly  en- 
dowed, he  saw  that  the  prestige  and  strength  of 
the  Church  could  only  be  preserved  by  her  re- 
union ;  and  at  the  proper  time  he  spoke  the 
emphatic  word  which  practically  settled  the  ques- 
tion. I  doubt  much  if  the  moment  of  his  highest 
exaltation  as  a  man  and  a  Churchman  was  not  the 
moment,  when,  repressing  all  of  personal  feeling, 
and  yet  yielding  no  conviction,  and  compromising 
no  principle,  he  stood  forth  and  said  virtually,  "The 
Church  must  close  up  her  ranks.  We  are  one  in 
faith  and  hope  — there  must  be  no  division  in  the 
body." 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      233 

In  referring  to  this  action  of  Bishop  Elliott,  a 
writer  in  "  The  Southern  Churchman  "  (Rev.  Dr. 
Slaughter)  most  truthfully  and  eloquently  said,  — 

"The  whole  South  joins  in  the  dirge  over  one 
of  her  most  splendid  products  —  her  champion 
and  her  child,  every  pulse  of  whose  large  heart 
did  beat  in  sympathy  with  her  in  her  weal  and 
woe.  The  whole  Church  should  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  the  man  who  wore  the  mitre  so  becomingly  ; 
'who  was  so  pure  in  his  vocation  that  his  vir- 
tues did  plead  his  cause '  like  angels  trumpet- 
tongued ;  the  man  who,  though  born  and  ripened 
under  a  Southern  sun,  with  all  the  fervor  of  a 
Southern  man's  affections,  instincts,  and  preju- 
dices, at  a  critical  moment  hushed  them  into 
silence,  and  came  forward,  and  laid  them  upon  the 
altar  of  a  bleeding  Church  to  heal  her  wounds." 

I  met  with  Bishop  Elliott  for  the  last  time  at 
the  General  Council  in  the  autumn  of  1865. 
Great  changes  had  taken  place.  His  fondest 
earthly  hopes  had  been  crushed,  and  his  most  san- 
guine predictions  had  been  unfulfilled.  He  bore 
it  all  as  became  him.  Strength  and  greatness 
never  seem  so  attractive  as  when  chastened  by 
heavy  affliction.  Sorrow  gives  that  softness  of 
coloring  which  the  painter  is  wont  to  use  in  his 
last  touches  when  toning  down  the  picture.  There 
was  the  same  winning  smile,  the  same  loving  rec- 


234      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

ognition,  but  withal,  there  was  an  undertone  of 
indescribable  tenderness  which  bespoke  a  great 
sorrow  encountered  and  endured.  The  thought 
prominent  in  his  mind  was  duty  to  the  Church ; 
and  he  it  was,  who,  in  his  closing  address  to  the 
Council,  —  never  written,  and,  alas  !  now  no  longer 
to  be  recalled, — gave  expression  to  it.  "We 
should  ask  "  — thus  ran  the  tenor  of  his  discourse 
—  "  not  what  will  gratify  our  pride,  and  please  the 
world,  but  what  the  interests  of  the  Church  de- 
mand, and  what  Christ  would  have  us  to  do." 
This  selfsame  spirit  pervaded  the  action  of  the 
General  Convention,  which  had  closed  its  session  a 
few  weeks  before  at  Philadelphia. 

The  blessed  Spirit  of  God,  the  Holy  Com- 
forter, in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  faithful, 
was  moving  upon  the  heart  of  the  Church, — deep 
calling  unto  deep  under  the  impulse  of  His  mys- 
terious power, —  and  the  waters  flowed  together 
as  do  the  waves  of  the  sea  which  a  passing  vessel 
has  for  the  moment  parted  asunder. 

There  is  nothing  upon  this  earth  so  beautiful  as 
the  spectacle  of  an  heroic  soul  struggling  man- 
fully with  adversity,  yielding  at  last  to  manifest 
destiny,  and  bowing  to  the  divine  will  in  unques- 
tioning submission.  There  are  faithful  men  in 
these  latter  days,  who  have  illustrated  their  faith 
by  sacrifices  greater  even  than  that  which  the  pa- 


THE  LATE  BISffOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      235 

triarch  Abraham  was  preparing  to  make  upon  the 
mount.  There  are  some  things  dearer  to  a  man 
than  the  life  of  his  child,  and  when  sacrificed  at 
the  divine  command,  through  faith,  are  most  pre- 
cious offerings  in  the  sight  of  Heaven. 

It  was  one  of  my  first  thoughts,  when  I  real- 
ized that  all  was  over,  "How  does  Bishop  Elliott 
bear  all  this  ? "  so  long  and  so  thoroughly  identi- 
fied had  he  been  with  that  cause  for  which  we 
were  hoping  and  struggling.  He  bore  it  all  most 
beautifully,  as  the  permissive  will  of  God  without 
which  not  even  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground. 
The  faith  which  had  waxed  so  strong  in  the  time 
of  action,  rose  to  sublimity  in  the  hour  of  submis- 
sion. Most  worthily  did  his  demeanor  illustrate 
the  motto  upon  his  official  seal :  "  In  utrumque 
paratus  agere  et  pati"  Mysterious  indeed  to  all 
of  us  were  the  providences  of  that  hour,  but  what 
room  for  faith,  if  sight  and  reason  had  not  alto- 
gether failed !  It  should  be  our  delight  to  lose 
ourselves  in  the  depths  of  the  divine  mysteries, 
because  in  the  darkness  and  cloud  God  dwelleth, 
and  there  His  children  find  Him.  Thanks  be  to 
God  that  we  have  a  Father  so  wise  that  we  can- 
not always  comprehend  His  ways,  and  so  good  that 
we  can  never  distrust  His  love. 

"  Here  bring  your  wounded  hearts  ;  here  tell  your  anguish; 
Earth  has  no  sorrow  that  Heaven  cannot  heal." 


236      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

Not  by  the  power  of  reason  do  we  solve  divine 
mysteries,  and  turn  all  our  sadness  into  rejoicing, 
but  by  the  application  of  faith.  "Even  so, 
Father :  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy  sight." 

I  little  thought  when  I  parted  from  the  bishop, 
that  I  should  see  his  face  no  more.  His  appear- 
ance gave  promise  of  long-continued  life.  Time 
and  suffering  seemed  to  have  made  no  serious 
impression  on  his  vigorous  frame,  and  there  was 
no  apparent  abatement  of  his  mental  powers. 
But  one  is  never  the  same  after  passing  under  a 
great  pressure.  The  spring  of  life,  when  not 
broken,  is  always  weakened  by  the  strain.  The 
grief  which  is  denied  outward  expression,  will  flow 
back  upon  the  heart,  and  in  time  will  break  it. 
He  went  about  his  work  quietly  and  submissively, 
with  the  earnest  purpose  to  do  what  yet  remained 
to  be  done,  but  it  was  under  circumstances  of 
peculiar  painfulness  to  a  spirit  like  his.  The  rude 
tempest  of  war  had  swept  through  the  bounds  of 
his  diocese,  from  the  mountains  to  the  seashore. 
He  could  not  travel  without  seeing  the  marks  of 
its  violence,  not  only  upon  the  devastated  fields 
and  burned  cities,  but  upon  dismantled  and  dese- 
crated churches,  "  the  abomination  of  desolation 
standing  where  it  ought  not."  From  every  quar- 
ter of  his  diocese,  from  vacated  churches  and  im- 
poverished people,  there  came  to  him  the  cry  for 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      237 

aid  and  counsel ;  and  there  was  everywhere,  too, 
to  be  heard  that,  saddest  lament  of  all,  the  cry  of 
the  orphan  and  the  widow.  To  what  straits  the 
Southern  Bishops  have  been  driven  in  attempting 
to  heed  these  cries,  God  and  themselves  only 
know.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  pressure  has 
proved  too  great  for  brain  and  heart  ? 

It  seems  to  us  as  if  the  death  of  our  beloved 
Bishop  had  been  premature,  and  that  the  tale  of 
life  had  been  cut  short  before  it  was  all  told,  and 
a  pity,  too,  when  it  was  so  beautiful  in  the  telling. 
But  we  must  learn  to  measure  life,  not  so  much 
by  its  length  of  continuance,  as  by  the  amount  of 
work  accomplished.  Men  who  work  hard  will 
compress  into  threescore  years  what  might  have 
been,  with  less  intensity,  extended  over  the  allotted 
threescore  years  and  ten.  It  was  enough  that 
his  Master  was  satisfied  with  his  day's  work,  and 
that  he  was  called  to  rest  before  the  sun  went 

down. 

"  No  ominous  hour 

Knocks  at  his  door  with  tidings  of  mishap  ; 

Far  off  is  he,  above  desire  and  fear  ; 

No  more  submitted  to  the  change  and  chance 

Of  the  unsteady  planets.     Oh,  'tis  well 

With  him  !  but  who  knows  what  the  coming  hour, 

Veiled  in  thick  darkness,  brings  for  us  ?  " 

Amid  all  his  trials  he  had  enjoyed  a  large  share 
of  life's  blessings.  He  had  been  permitted  to 


238      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDPA  THER. 

preach  the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  great  Re- 
deemer in  Whom  he  trusted.  He  had  received 
honor  from  all  honorable  men.  Earth,  and  Heaven 
upon  earth,  confers  no  greater  honor  upon  man 
than  to  clothe  him  with  the  office  of  an  ambassador 
for  Christ  in  the  highest  ministry  of  the  Church. 
He  had  lived  to  see  his  diocese  grow  up  under  his 
administration,  and  becoming  strong  in  all  the 
great  centres,  where  men  most  do  congregate. 
He  was  spared  to  see  his  children  grown  up 
around  him,  and  the  promises  of  God  fulfilled 
towards  them.  This  life  had  lost  many  of  its  at- 
tractions, and  the  gladdening  dreams  of  youth  had 
all  fled  from  him.  A  new  order  of  affairs,  alien 
from  his  sympathies,  was  in  progress  around  him. 
The  present  condition  of  things  was  dark,  and  in 
the  future  no  rift  in  the  clouds  was  discernible. 
The  little  flocks  of  his  servants,  which  he  had 
tended  with  a  shepherd's  care,  had  been  scattered, 
and  came  not,  as  of  old,  to  his  familiar  call.  The 
companions  of  his  childhood  had  left  him,  and  the 
trusted  friends  of  his  early  manhood  had  nearly 
all  preceded  him,  and  in  the  place  of  departed 
spirits  were  waiting  to  welcome  him.  Life  was 
not  what  it  had  been  to  him — the  same  divine 
mission  indeed,  the  same  call  to  duty,  the  same 
struggle ;  but  it  was  a  lone  struggle.  Meade, 
Cobbs,  Otey,  Polk,  Rutledge,  —  all  had  left  him ; 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      239 

and  the  heart  of  a  loving  man  feels  sadly  the  need 
of  loving  hearts  around  him.  Is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  was  weary,  and  ready,  like  a  tired  child, 
to  lie  down  and  rest  ?  In  his  own  words,  delivered 
at  the  burial  of  his  brother  Cobbs,  the  late  bishop 
of  Alabama,  he  exclaimed,  —  and  what  a  grateful 
significance  his  words  have  for  us  now  !  —  "  Oh,  the 
sweetness  of  that  word  '  rest ! '  To  cease  from  all 
the  weariness  of  life  ;  to  be  done  with  its  cares, 
its  perplexities,  its  sorrows,  its  miseries  ;  to  have 
fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  and  ended  the  strug- 
gle ;  to  have  finished  the  work  which  God  has 
given  us  to  do,  and  now  to  lie  down  and  be  at 
peace." 

All  ended  as  he  would  have  ordered  it.  Before 
the  years  had  come  wherein  men  find  no  pleas- 
ure ;  while  yet  the  keepers  of  the  house  trembled 
not,  nor  those  that  looked  out  of  the  windows 
were  darkened  ;  in  the  full  possession  of  all  his 
powers  ;  in  the  bosom  of  his  family ;  spared  the 
lingering  sickness  and  the  painful  parting, — he 
gave  up  the  ghost,  and  was  gathered  to  his 
fathers.  Wife  and  children  gather  around  the 
closing  scene :  hosts  of  friends  crowd  the  pro- 
cession, and  even  the  stranger  is  borne  unwit- 
tingly along  by  the  swelling  throng.  The  loving 
arms  of  beloved  servants,  whom  he  had  so  long 
and  lovingly  borne  upon  his  heart,  bore  his  pre- 


240      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

cious  remains  to  their  resting-place.  Amid  the 
scenes  so  dear  to  him,  by  the  banks  of  the  gentle 
Savannah,  and  under  the  skies  which  had  looked 
down  upon  his  nativity ;  upon  the  holy  festival  of 
Christmas  Day,  amid  anthems  of  Glory  to  God, 
and  Peace  upon  Earth,  —  he  was  laid  in  his  place 
of  rest.  It  is  very  sad  to  us  who  are  left  behind, 
but  we  have  no  tears  of  bitterness  to  shed  for 
ourselves  when  the  gain  to  him  is  so  incalculable. 
"  Even  so,  Father :  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy 
sight."  And  for  all  Thy  goodness  and  mercy  to 
this  our  friend,  brother,  father,  "  We  praise  Thee, 
we  bless  Thee,  we  worship  Thee,  we  glorify  Thee, 
we  give  thanks  to  Thee  for  Thy  great  glory,  O 
Lord  God,  Heavenly  King,  God  the  Father 
Almighty ! " 

Since  writing  the  above,  and  preparing  it  for 
the  press,  I  have  heard  an  incident  so  characteris- 
tic of  Bishop  Elliott's  nobleness  of  soul,  that  I 
cannot  refrain  from  recording  and  perpetuating  it 
in  these  "  Reminiscences." 

It  has  passed  into  history  that  the  chief  man 
of  the  "  Confederacy "  was  captured,  and  im- 
prisoned in  the  Fortress  of  Monroe  to  await  trial 
for  treason.  That  prison-life  of  Mr.  Davis,  with 
all  its  needless  horrors  and  humiliations,  has  left 
a  foul  blot  upon  the  history  of  that  day.  Those 


THE  LATE  BISHOP  ELLIOTT  OF  GEORGIA.      24! 

months  of  solitary  imprisonment  ;  his  feeble 
body  loaded  with  chains ;  that  eye  of  the  jailer 
ever  fixed  upon  the  prisoner's  every  motion,  even 
in  his  devotions  to  the  Most  High,  —  what  a  pic- 
ture of  wanton  insult !  We,  Southern  people,  are 
a  forgiving  people,  for  every  true  Southern  man 
felt  himself  insulted  in  the  person  of  his  repre- 
sentative head.  A  man  can  be  imprisoned,  tried, 
convicted,  and  executed,  and  yet  not  insulted. 
The  treatment  of  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  foul 
wrong,  and  we  all  felt  it  as  a  personal  dishonor. 
While  the  unhappy,  but  unsubdued,  captive,  sat 
there  in  his  lonely  cell  and  chains,  —  for  a  long 
time  forbidden  to  see  even  his  priest,  —  Bishop 
Elliott  importuned  the  authorities  to  be  allowed  to 
share  the  imprisonment  of  his  chief — volunteered 
to  partake  of  all  its  horrors.  Glorious  Elliott ! 
such  men  redeem  the  character  of  the  human 
race.  Nor  was  the  good  Bishop  alone  in  this 
sentiment.  The  vast  Fortress  of  Monroe  was 
all  too  small  to  enclose  the  crowd  which  would 
have  sprung  forward  to  emulate  his  spirit.  If  such 
men  be  traitors,  I  can  only  say,  — 

"  Sit  mea  anima  cum  illis." 

We  of  the  South  have  not  yet  been  schooled 
to  enroll  John  Brown  among  "  The  noble  army  of 
martyrs."  The  roll  of  the  South  records  the 


242      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

names  of  quite  other  men.  With  these  we  have 
lived,  and  with  these  we  hope  to  share  eternity. 
For  one,  I  have  no  higher  aspiration ;  for  my 
posterity  I  ask  of  Heaven  no  richer  boon. 

REMINISCENCES   OF    THE    RIGHT    REV.    NICHOLAS 
HAMNER  COBBS,  D.D., 

The  First  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Alabama,  the  "George  Herbert"  of 
the  Church  in  America. 

THIS  volume  would  be  most  incomplete  unless 
it  contained  some  remembrance  of  one  who  had 
been  my  intimate  friend  for  a  long  period  of  my 
life,  and  also  my  immediate  predecessor  in  the 
bishopric  of  Alabama. 

I  hardly  know  how  to  describe  Bishop  Cobbs ; 
for  he  was  a  man,  in  some  respects,  altogether 
unlike  all  other  men  whom  I  have  known  in  char- 
acter, and  in  the  exercise  of  his  holy  office.  We 
have  had  many  distinguished,  learned,  and  elo- 
quent men  in  the  American  Episcopate,  but  only 
one  Bishop  Cobbs.  He  was  the  very  impersona- 
tion of  some  of  the  most  striking  qualities  of  a 
Bishop.  He  looked  the  representative  of  his  Lord 
in  the  sweetness,  gentleness,  and  humility  of  his 
bearing  towards  his  fellow-men.  It  required  the 
exercise  of  no  great  imaginative  power  to  picture 
him  leaning  on  his  Master's  breast,  and  finding 
all  his  strength  and  solace  there.  He  looked  as  if 


i- 


k  k, 


RT.   REV.   NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      243 

one  of  the  Apostles  whom  Christ  had  chosen  to 
follow  Him  in  His  solitary  sojourn  upon  earth.  I 
remember  now  a  remark  of  a  good  Methodist 
brother,  who  had  had  some  worrying  controver- 
sies about  the  "Apostolical  Succession."  I  intro- 
duced him  to  Bishop  Cobbs  on  one  occasion ;  and 
when  the  Bishop  left  us,  my  good  brother  turned 
to  me,  and  said,  "  I  have  no  doubts  on  my  mind 
now,  for  I  have  seen  the  '  Apostolic  Succession.'  " 

Above  all  other  men  was  he  an  humble  man  : 
alone  of  all  other  men,  he  embodied  the  spirit  of 
meekness.  I  have  mingled  much  with  my  fellow- 
men,  and  have  observed  them  with  much  atten- 
tion ;  and  I  record  here  what  I  have  often 
remarked,  "  that  Bishop  Cobbs  was  the  only  real 
meek  man  I  ever  knew."  I  have  seen  earnest 
men,  pious  men,  self-sacrificing  men,  very  humble 
men ;  but  I  have  only  seen  one  very  meek  man,  — 
a  man  who  could  take  a  slight  or  offence  from 
his  fellow-men  without  exhibiting  passion  or  re- 
sentment. This  is  the  rarest  gem  in  the  diadem 
of  saints,  and  it  shone  serenely  on  his  brow. 

I  remember  just  now  a  very  characteristic  inci- 
dent, illustrative  of  his  spirit  of  meekness.  The 
Bishop,  then  Mr.  Cobbs,  was,  at  the  time  referred 
to,  the  chaplain  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  — 
the  first  chaplain  that  had  ever  ministered  within 
its  walls.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Univer- 


244      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

sity  of  Virginia,  at  its  inception,  did  not  officially 
recognize  Christianity  as  one  of  the  forces  which 
should  enter  into  the  work  of  education.  Indeed, 
there  was  an  atmosphere  of  infidelity  about  the 
"Old  Dominion"  at  that  period,  which  poisoned 
even  the  sources  of  knowledge.  The  University 
was  ^equipped  by  the  diligence  of  Jefferson  with 
all  that  was  most  advanced  in  the  schools  of 
learning,  but  Christ  was  not  acknowledged  there  in 
the  presence  of  any  ambassador.  Under  a  very 
peculiar  train  of  events,  which  are  well  known, 
and  need  not  to  be  repeated  here,  Mr.  Cobbs  was 
chosen  to  be  the  first  chaplain.  His  modest  and 
retiring  manner,  his  low  estimate  of  his  own  abil- 
ity, in  which  no  one  agreed  with  him,  all  seemed 
to  unfit  him  to  cope  with  the  spirit  that  held  sway 
at  the  University.  But  how  little  can  men  judge 
of  the  spiritual  forces  which  a  man  of  God,  im- 
bued with  the  love  of  Christ,  can  bring  to  bear 
upon  the  hearts  of  his  fellow-men.  His  very 
presence  disarmed  all  opposition,  and  his  simple 
telling  of  the  wondrous  old  story  of  the  love  of 
Christ  won  many  hearts  for  his  dear  Master. 

But  to  the  incident.  He  was  dining  out  on  one 
occasion  in  the  vicinity  of  the  University.  At 
the  table  was  one  of  the  students,  who  amused 
himself,  and  thought  he  was  amusing  others,  by 
jokes  upon  the  clerical  profession.  Mr.  Cobbs  said 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      245 

not  a  word,  and  showed  no  sign  of  displeasure. 
As  the  company  were  about  to  rise  from  the 
table,  he  went  up  to  the  young  man,  and,  taking 
his  hand  in  a  friendly  manner,  said,  "  My  young 
friend,  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  ad- 
monitions. We  of  the  clergy  seldom  have  the 
privilege  of  having  our  faults  told  us  so  plainly, 
and  I  trust  that  I  shall  profit  by  your  discourse." 
You  may  imagine  the  discomfiture  of  the  youth. 
He  yielded  him  his  homage  on  the  spot,  and 
became,  as  did  all  the  students  and  professors,  his 
devoted  friend  and  admirer. 

Is  not  this,  one  of  the  manifold  ways  in  which 
the  beatitude  to  "the  meek"  is  fulfilled  —  "they 
shall  inherit  the  earth"?  What  is  there  on  the 
earth  so  precious  as  the  love  and  esteem  of  the 
good  ?  what  accumulation  of  earthly  treasure  can 
be  placed  in  the  scale  with  the  wealth  of  affection 
which  the  good  man  lays  up  ?  Indeed,  I  know  not 
which  one  of  the  beatitudes  the  good  Bishop  did 
not  have  a  share  in.  He  was  "  pure  in  heart ; " 
he  was  a  "peacemaker;"  he  "hungered  and 
thirsted  after  righteousness."  What  fulness  of 
joy  and  blessedness  await  the  dear  man  on  that  day 
when  his  Lord  from  His  throne  shall  issue  His 
invitation,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  My  Father !  " 
His  humility  was  as  conspicuous  as  his  meekness. 
He  loved  to  preach  on  the  text,  "  Be  ye  clothed 


246      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

4 

with  humility."  After  having  announced  his 
text,  he  might  have  sat  down,  for  the  people 
had  the  sermon  exemplified  in  full  view  before 
them. 

Mr.  Cobbs  was  succeeded  in  the  chaplaincy  by 
a  man  of  rare  talent  for  oratory.  I  asked  one 
of  the  professors  how  he  liked  the  new  chaplain. 
His  reply  was,  "Mr.  Cobbs's  presence  in  the  pul- 
pit is  more  eloquent  to  me  than  all  the  flashings 
of  oratory." 

His  sagacity  was  very  remarkable,  his  intuitive 
knowledge  of  men  was  profound,  and  his  mode  of 
dealing  with  all  varieties  of  character  inimitable. 
We  were  thrown  much  together  in  the  early  part 
of  my  ministry,  and  we  often  held  "associations" 
together.  When  I  had  a  particularly  hard  case  to 
deal  with,  I  always  invoked  his  aid  —  never,  I 
think,  without  success.  I  loved  to  watch  the  play 
of  his  conversation,  like  that  of  a  skilful  angler.  It 
was  a  beautiful  study.  Christ  had  indeed  made  him 
a  "fisher  of  men."  As  to  the  dear  women,  they 
ran  into  his  open  net.  Ah !  how  many  hearts  in 
old  Bedford  County,  the  place  of  his  birth  and 
earliest  ministry ;  in  Petersburg,  where  he  gathered 
such  a  harvest  of  souls  ;  in  Alabama,  where  he  car- 
ried warmth  and  light  into  every  nook  and  corner 
of  the  State,  —  how  many  hearts  in  all  these  fields 
of  labor  do  still  beat  with  love  and  gratitude  at 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      247 

the  sound  of  his  name  !  Such  men  never  die,  and 
thus,  too,  "inherit  the  earth." 

His  administration  of  his  diocese  was,  of  course, 
in  perfect  keeping  with  the  man  :  he  was  the  ser- 
vant of  servants,  as  was  his  dear  Master,  and 
ready  to  lay  down  —  as  indeed  he  did  —  his  life  for 
the  flock.  He  gathered  to  him  by  elective  affin- 
ity, a  ministry  like-minded  with  himself,  and  made 
the  diocese  of  Alabama  —  what  I  trust  it  will  ever 
be  —  a  haven  of  repose  for  those  who  seek  rest 
from  the  strife  of  faction  and  party. 

He  was  a  Churchman  all  through  and  through. 
It  seemed  to  saturate  him :  it  breathed  in  his 
breath,  it  spoke  in  his  speech,  it  lived  in  his  life. 
He  loved  his  "mother,"  as  he  was  wont  to  call  her, 
and  he  spoke  of  her  with  a  filial  unction  which  can- 
not be  described.  The  dear  Bishop  Lay,  whose 
voice,  alas  !  is  no  longer  heard,  and  whose  pen 
writes  no  more,  gathered  his  inspiration  at  the  feet 
of  Bishop  Cobbs.  Their  mutual  love  and  admira- 
tion are  indescribable  ;  and,  oh  !  often  have  I  jour- 
neyed with  them,  and  enjoyed  their  discourse  and 
mutual  love.1 

With  all  this  high  appreciation  of  the  Church, 
—  and  he  loved  the  Church  because  she  was 
Christ's,  — he  had  a  kind  word  and  a  kind  thought 

1  After  the  death  of  Bishop  Cobbs,  Bishop  Lay  published  in  the 
Church  Review  a  highly  appreciative  sketch  of  him. 


248      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

for  all  that  named  the  Sacred  Name.  Indeed,  he 
seemed  incapable  of  aught  but  love. 

My  own  relations  to  him  were  peculiar,  and  our 
intimacy  very  close,  notwithstanding  our  very  dif- 
ferent temperaments.  He  often  told  me  that  the 
first  man  who  came  to  him  after  his  ordination  as 
deacon,  and  threw  his  arms  around  him,  and  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  was  my  father,  and  that  his 
heart  went  forth  to  every  one  that  bore  the  name 
of  "  Wilmer."  It  was  in  part  for  this  reason,  I 
suppose,  that  I  was  called  to  take  his  place  in 
every  position  that  he  ever  held  in  the  Church. 
(I  only  succeeded  him  in  Bedford  and  Alabama.) 
Thus  have  I  ever  been  in  his  path,  and  have 
learned  to  know  his  footprints.  They  have  ever 
pointed  in  the  direction  of  duty.  God  grant  me 
some  of  the  grace  that  guided  and  sanctified  his 
life. 

His  death  was  marked  by  a  striking  coinci- 
dence. He  loved  his  country,  as  became  his  loyal 
heart.  He  saw  the  gathering  of  the  storm  of  war 
at  his  very  door.  He  had  loved  the  Union  with  a 
deep  devotion,  as  did  all  men  of  his  class  ;  and  the 
idea  of  its  dissolution  was  more  than  his  frame, 
enfeebled  by  long  disease,  could  bear.  At  the 
booming  of  the  cannon  which  announced  the  sep- 
aration of  his  State  from  the  Union,  his  gentle 
spirit  took  its  flight.  His  tender  heart  could  not 


RT.   REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      249 

have  borne  the  horrors  of  that  dreadful  war,  and 
he  was  taken  in  out  of  the  storm. 

I  would  have  dwelt  longer  upon  the  public  life 
and  administration  of  Bishop  Cobbs,  if  I  had  the 
time  and  materials  at  hand.  Most  happily,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Cushman  has  preserved  the  memorial 
sermon  ("The  Israelite  without  Guile"),  which,  by 
request  of  the  diocese  of  Alabama,  he  preached 
after  the  Bishop's  death.  The  selection  of  the 
preacher  for  the  occasion  was  a  very  wise  one ;  for 
the  Doctor  was  fitted  by  culture,  and  capability  of 
appreciation,  and  by  his  ardent  affection,  to  give  us 
the  likeness  of  the  first  Bishop  of  Alabama.  I 
give  the  following  extracts,  and  end  this  reminis- 
cence with  the  Bishop's  "parting  words." 

EXTRACTS  FROM  TEE  SERMON  OF  THE  REV.  DR.  CUSHMAN. 

"When  was  a  subject  more  worthy  of  a  tribute 
than  the  man  of  God  whose  life  and  death  we 
now  commemorate,  the  Israelite  without  guile  ? 
when  one  to  whom  could  better  be  applied  the 
testimonies  of  inspiration  to  the  perfection  of  the 
saints  ?  Did  Abraham  talk  with  God  on  the  plains 
of  Mamre,  did  Enoch  walk  with  Him  ?  What  was 
their  life,  but  like  his,  a  life  of  holiness  and 
prayer  ?  Did  the  dying  Jacob  gather  himself  up 
in  his  bed,  and,  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff, 
bless  his  children  ?  Suffer  us,  a  moment,  to  un- 


2 SO      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

veil  the  sacred  secrets  of  yonder  chamber  of  death. 
There  lay  the  aged  father  and  Bishop,  his  frame 
wasted,  his  strength  exhausted,  by  months  of 
painful  suffering  and  disease.  Already  had  he 
entered  into  the  dark  valley  and  shadow  of  death. 
But  he  could  not  die  without  once  more  beholding 
the  children  of  his  love :  with  them,  and  with  the 
wife  of  his  youth,  he  must  break  the  sacramental 
bread.  They  are  gathered  from  far,  —  his  daugh- 
ters, his  sons,  his  sons-in-law,  and  their  wives 
with  them.  In  a  kind  providence,  no  living  child 
was  missing.  Together  they  knelt  around  that 
sacred  bed,  together  they  all  partook  of  that  last 
sacrament,  —  all  save  one,  whose  tender  years  pre- 
cluded ;  and  when,  leaning  upon  his  elbow,  the 
aged  father  raised  his  attenuated  hand,  and  in- 
voked the  blessing  of  Heaven,  the  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  all  understanding,  fell  sweetly 
upon  his  own  soul.  He  realized  the  truth  of  the 
promise  that  the  righteous  should  not  be  forsaken, 
and  that  his  seed  should  not  in  vain  beg  their 
bread,  —  the  bread  of  heaven  ;  and,  with  gushing 
tears  of  thankful  joy,  he  could  exclaim,  'Behold, 
Lord,  here  am  I,  and  those  that  thou  hast  given 
me.'  It  was  a  scene  which  might  well  remind  us 
of  dying  patriarchs.  Not  afar  off  did  he  resemble 
those  elder  saints.  Like  David,  a  man  after  God's 
own  heart ;  like  Daniel,  a  man  of  prayer ;  like 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D, 


Nathaniel,  an  Israelite  without  guile  ;  like  St. 
John,  full  of  tenderness  and  love  ;  like  St.  Ste- 
phen, a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  faith,  he  might  well  have  feared  the  woe, 
denounced  by  our  Lord  when  all  men  speak  well 
of  thee,  had  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  prophet, 
occasion  been  taken  to  find  fault  with  him  con- 
cerning the  Lord  his  God.  He  contended  val- 
iantly for  Christ,  and  won  the  universal  meed  of 
praise.  He  contended  no  less  for  the  'Church, 
the  body  of  Christ  ;  and  he,  who  never  had  in  his 
heart  a  thought  of  party  enmity  and  strife,  in- 
curred partisan  censure  and  reproach. 

"  He  was  a  man  of  God  from  his  youth  ;  and  the 
whole  course  of  his  life  did  but  develop  and  ma- 
ture those  natural  germs  of  character  which  were 
made  perfect  by  grace.  As  in  the  sainted  Gris- 
wold,  it  was  difficult  to  say  in  him  where  nature 
ended  and  where  grace  began,  so  happily  were 
they  combined  :  and  if  he  was  thought  ever  to  set 
an  undue  value  upon  the  baptism  and  catechetical 
instruction  of  the  Church,  it  was  because  he  felt 
himself  so  much  their  debtor  ;  because,  like  Tim- 
othy, by  his  mother  and  grandmother  he  had 
been  early  trained  in  wisdom's  ways.  The  seeds 
were  thus  implanted  which  in  after-years  pro- 
duced so  abundant  a  harvest  of  good  to  himself 
and  the  Church.  Impressions  were  thus  made 


252      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

which  no  adverse  influences  ever  impaired  or  de- 
stroyed. It  was  to  these  two  facts,  —  his  baptism 
and  his  catechetical  training,  —  that  he  himself 
attributed,  under  God,  his  life  as  a  Christian  min- 
ister and  bishop. 

"  Bishop  Cobbs  was  never  a  man  to  make  a  dis- 
play of  his  reading  and  learning.  His  ambition 
never  ran  in  that  direction ;  but  to  his  friends,  to 
those  who  were  admitted  to  his  familiar  converse, 
and  to  whom  he  brought  out  treasures  new  and 
old,  he  appeared,  as  he  truly  was,  not  only  a 
Christian  bishop,  but  a  scholar  and  a  learned 
divine.  His  zeal  and  industry  atoned  for  his  want 
of  early  opportunities ;  and  in  the  classics,  in 
English  theology,  in  Church  history,  and  in  pa- 
tristic lore,  he  was  no  mean  proficient.  Never 
man  rated  higher  the  value  of  learning,  no  one 
labored  more  to  raise  its  drooping  standard  in  our 
land.  If,  in  these  later  days,  he  was  the  earnest 
and  unfailing  advocate  of  our  own  great  Univer- 
sity of  the  South,  it  was  because  he  saw  in  it  the 
realization  of  his  hopes  and  dreams ;  because 
there  he  believed  the  twin-sisters,  Religion  and 
Learning,  were  to  walk  hand  in  hand,  until  they 
attained  such  fulness  of  stature  as  the  world  had 
not  yet  seen. 

"  It  was  amid  such  toil  and  such  recreation,  a 


RT.   REV.   NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      253 

teacher  by  day,  and  a  painful  student  by  night, 
that  Bishop  Cobbs  passed  his  earliest  years. 
Soon  he  found  pressing  upon  him  the  great  ques- 
tion of  his  vocation  in  life.  From  early  youth, 
influences  alien  to  the  Church  had  surrounded 
him.  The  Church  herself,  in  her  depressed  con- 
dition, cast  down,  but  not  destroyed,  could  offer 
but  little  inducement  to  a  worldly  mind  :  for  am- 
bition, she  had  no  glittering  prize.  To  share  her 
lot,  to  take  part  in  her  ministry,  was  to  share  her 
poverty  and  reproach.  To  lead  such  a  forlorn 
hope  required  no  little  heroism.  The  question, 
however,  was  soon  settled.  If  there  was  ever  a 
doubt  in  his  mind,  which  we  neither  affirm  nor 
deny,  it  was  determined  without  long  debate  for 
the  faith  in  which  he  had  been  baptized,  for  the 
Church  in  Virginia,  which,  however  fallen  and 
decayed,  was  still  the  Church  of  Christ.  In  1824 
we  find  him  at  Staunton,  applying  to  be  admitted 
to  the  holy  order  of  deacons.  He  had  yet  to  be 
confirmed,  and  partake  of  his  first  communion  : 
but  once  before,  we  believe,  had  he  witnessed  the 
service  of  the  Church.  Such,  however,  was  his 
spotless  character,  such  the  testimonials  he  bore 
from  neighbors  and  friends,  such  the  necessities 
of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  —  the  very  application 
was  the  best  proof  of  the  sincere  and  self-denying 
piety  of  the  applicant,  — that  all  technical  consid- 


254      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

erations  were  overruled.  He  was  ordained  deacon 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Moore,  in  Trinity  Church, 
Staunton,  May  23,  1824,  and  the  same  day  was 
confirmed,  and  for  the  first  time  communed. 

"It  was  during  these  laborious  years  of  paro- 
chial life  that  those  conservative  and  sound  views 
of  the  Church,  in  the  profession  of  which  Bishop 
Cobbs  afterwards  lived  and  died,  were  developed 
and  matured.  He  had  imbibed  them  from  the 
fountain-head,  from  the  great  exponents  of  the 
English  Church,  and  from  the  Word  of  God. 
The  adverse  influences  which  surrounded  him 
had,  it  may  be,  for  a  while  kept  them  in  abeyance  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  experience  of  parish  life 
had  taught  him  that  the  truest  practice  can  only 
be  combined  with  the  truest  theory,  that  they 
assumed  their  normal  place  in  his  mind  and  heart. 
To  preach  Christ  was  his  first  duty,  as  it  was  his 
chief  pleasure ;  to  preach  the  Church  was  a  duty 
no  less.  They  were  parts  of  one  whole  ;  and  the 
question  did  not,  could  not,  rise  in  his  mind  which 
of  the  two  he  should  forbear  to  press.  His  office 
was  to  proclaim  the  whole  counsel  of  God.  It 
was  not  only  duty :  even  in  Bedford,  he  believed 
it  policy.  In  the  field  of  labor  in  which  God 
had  placed  him,  amid  the  diversities  of  heresy 
and  schism,  with  multiplying  sects  on  every 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      255 

side,  necessity  constrained  him  to  set  forth  plainly 
and  distinctly  the  Divine  origin  and  Apostolic 
claims  of  'the  sect  everywhere  spoken  against.' 

"The  trumpet,  we  think,  gives  no  uncertain 
sound.  These  views  so  announced,  his  views 
upon  the  sacraments,  and  especially  upon  baptis- 
mal regeneration,  in  the  belief  of  which  he  stood 
side  by  side  with  Bishop  Moore ;  his  thorough  re- 
ception of  the  doctrine  of  the  Apostolic  Succession  ; 
his  later  attempts  at  Petersburg  to  revive  the  long 
disused  holy  days  of  the  Church  ;  his  acknowledged 
teachings  in  the  pulpit  and  in  private,  —  furnish  all 
the  proof  we  need,  that,  as  a  Churchman,  he  was 
an  Israelite  without  guile.  Bishop  Cobbs  was 
never  one  to  stir  up  controversy  and  strife.  In 
his  unaffected  humility,  in  his  gentleness,  and  love 
of  peace,  he  never,  unnecessarily,  obtruded  ad- 
verse opinions  upon  the  attention  of  others.  He 
was  not  a  man  of  positive  assertions ;  he  rather 
hinted  than  expressed  a  difference  ;  he  dwelt  in 
social  converse  upon  points  of  harmony  and  union. 
To  some,  he  might  seem  to  waver  and  to  yield, 
when  no  rock  was  firmer.  It  was  so  in  all  things. 
In  all  his  intercourse  with  his  clergy,  in  his  Epis- 
copal addresses,  in  converse  with  a  vain  student, 
an  aged  servant,  a  brother  Bishop,  the  same  char- 
acteristic appears,  the  same  Christian  modesty 


256      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

spake  from  his  tongue.  Dogmatism  was  no  ele- 
ment of  his  character.  When  other  men  affirmed, 
he  perhaps  would  speak  by  interrogation  ;  but  his 
question  implied  no  less  certainty  than  their  sol- 
emn oaths.  He  was  not  arrogant,  opinionative, 
positive  ;  but  he  was  firm  and  decided.  Let  prin- 
ciple be  involved,  and  no  appliances  could  move 
him.  We  repeat,  the  trumpet  gave  no  uncertain 
sound.  The  views  of  the  Church,  and  of  her 
doctrines,  learned  by  painful  study  in  the  Word  of 
God  arid  the  Book  of  Prayer,  and  confirmed  by 
the  experience  of  a  parish  priest,  which  had  grad- 
ually and  surely  matured  in  the  earlier  years  of 
his  ministry,  were  the  rule  of  his  life,  as  they 
were  among  his  chief  consolations  in  death. 

"But  the  time  had  come  when  Bishop  Cobbs 
must  bid  farewell  to  his  first,  perhaps  his  best- 
loved,  field  of  labor.  He  must  turn  his  baijk  upon 
those  Peaks  of  Otter,  in  whose  shadow,  as  he  was 
born,  so  he  had  hoped  to  live  and  die.  There  he 
had  passed  his  early  years,  there  he  had  labored, 
and  seen  the  fruits  of  his  labor  :  where  once  were 
none,  a  hundred  communicants  now  kneeled.  He 
had  twined  himself  around  the  hearts  of  that  peo- 
ple with  cords  of  love  that  no  change  of  time  or 
circumstance  could  sunder.  With  spontaneous 
affection,  they  loved  him  in  word  and  deed ;  and 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      2$? 

a  farm  of  two  thousand  dollars'  value  was,  in 
part,  their  thank-offering  for  the  sacrifices  he  had 
made.  His  very  presence  brought  to  them  com- 
fort and  joy  and  protection,  and  they  felt  safer  for 
seeing  the  man  of  God  pass  daily  by.  It  was  the 
Divine  will  they  must  give  him  up,  but  it  could 
only  be  with  streaming  eyes  and  breaking  hearts. 
Their  love  could  know  no  diminution.  Other 
men  might  occupy :  it  was  still  his  parish.  To 
them  always  the  Bishop  of  Alabama  was  the 
Priest  of  Bedford.  What  a  scene  was  that  when 
he  visited  the  home  of  his  nativity,  a  Bishop  in 
the  Church  of  God ;  when  he  laid  his  hands,  first 
upon  the  eldest  daughter  of  his  heart  and  love, 
now,  we  trust,  a  saint  in  heaven,  and  then  upon 
the  aged  father,  who  had  waited  thus  long  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel.  It  was  a  time  of  mingled 
sorrow  and  joy.  The  young  men  wept ;  the  strong 
men  bowed  themselves  ;  the  mothers  and  daugh- 
ters in  Israel  would  have  gladly  given  themselves 
to  him,  who  had  sacrificed  so  much  for  them. 
Our  own  eyes  fill  with  tears,  the  pen  falls  from 
our  hand ;  and  we  can  only  say,  '  If  he  was  much 
worthy,  Bedford  loved  much.' 

"Bishop  Cobbs  had  served  for  fifteen  years  in 
the  General  Convention  of  the  Church  as  one  of 
the  clerical  deputies  from  the  Diocese  of  Virginia. 


2$8      REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 

In  1841,  members  of  the  Church,  emigrants  to 
Texas,  then  an  independent  republic,  had  applied 
to  the  Church  in  the  United  States  to  send  them 
a  Bishop.  It  was  a  post  of  very  great  responsi- 
bility and  importance.  The  House  of  Bishops, 
zealous  ever  for  the  extension  of  the  Church,  were 
forward  to  comply  with  the  request ;  and  Bishop 
Cobbs  was  by  them  nominated  as  a  suitable  per- 
son to  enter  upon  that  great  field.  From  motives 
of  policy  and  expediency,  the  House  of  Clerical 
and  Lay  Deputies  declined  to  unite  in  the  prelimi- 
nary action  of  the  House  of  Bishops ;  and,  to  his 
great  relief  and  joy,  the  name  of  Bishop  Cobbs 
was  not  sent  down  to  them  for  confirmation. 
Pending  that  matter,  he  underwent  much  trouble 
and  distress  lest  the  stern  mandate  of  duty  should 
call  him,  in  the  acceptance  of  that  post,  to  the 
sacrifice,  as  it  would  then  have  been,  of  his  native 
land.  His  nomination  was  in  every  way  honor- 
able ;  but  such  was  his  shrinking  modesty  and 
self-abnegation,  that  to  members  of  his  own  im- 
mediate family,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  the 
knowledge  of  it  has  only  come  from  other  sources 
since  his  death.  He  was  never  the  trumpeter  of 
his  own  fame. 

"It  was  in  1843  that  Mr.  — now,  by  creation  of 
Hobart  College,  Geneva,  N.Y.,  Dr.  —  Cobbs  took 
charge  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Cincinnati.  He  had 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      2  $9 

hardly  entered  upon  his  duties  there,  when  the 
Church  in  Indiana  hastened  to  ratify  the  indorse- 
ment of  the  House  of  Bishops  of  his  suitableness 
to  be  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  was 
elected  to  that  office  by  the  clergy,  and  only  a 
doubt  of  his  acceptance  of  the  position  prevented 
the  concurrence  of  the  laity.  Thus,  happily,  he 
was  reserved  for  us;  and  in  May,  1844,  at  Greens- 
borough,  the  Church  in  Alabama,  by  unanimous 
vote  of  her  clergy  and  laity,  invited  Dr.  Cobbs  to 
her  episcopate. 

"  He  accepted  the  providential  call,  was  conse- 
crated in  Philadelphia,  Oct.  20,  1844,  and  in  the 
month  of  November  had  already  entered  upon 
his  work,  his  great  venture  of  faith. 

"  We  notice  first  and  foremost  the  extraordinary 
hold  Bishop  Cobbs  had  upon  the  affections  of  his 
people  ;  the  wonderful  union  and  harmony  which 
characterized  all  orders  and  degrees  of  men  under 
his  jurisdiction.  As  he  went  through  his  diocese, 
everywhere  preaching  the  gospel,  as  well  by  his 
presence  as  his  words,  he  won  his  way  to  all 
hearts.  He  intuitively  inspired,  not  only  respect, 
but  confidence  and  love,  as  well  out  of  as  in  the 
Church.  '  That  is  a  good  man,  a  sincere  Chris- 
tian man,'  was  the  one,  universal  voice.  In  his 


260      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

presence,  before  his  lowly  piety,  wickedness  itself 
stood  abashed ;  and  those  who  feared  not  God,  nor 
regarded  man,  respected  him.  Without  compro- 
mising a  principle,  he  acquired  the  good  will  of 
all ;  and  when  he  approached,  contentions  for 
modes  of  faith  died  away  in  silence.  It  was  ever 
in  his  mind  that  his  mission  was,  if  possible,  to 
live  peaceably  with  all  men.  Ministers  of  an  alien 
faith  were  his  friends  in  life  ;  they  stood,  at  his 
bedside  to  learn  how  a  Christian  Bishop  died  ;  they 
paid  to  his  lifeless  remains  the  last  offices  of 
friendship  and  love.  Look  to  his  writings,  listen 
to  his  words,  and  he  spared  not  to  proclaim  what 
he  believed  to  be  the  counsel  of  God  ;  but  he 
made  no  enemies,  either  to  the  truth  or  to  himself, 
because  he  spake  the  truth  in  love. 

"  But  it  was  in  the  Church  that  our  Bishop  found 
the  strongest,  and  to  him  the  dearest,  proofs  of 
love.  In  the  sixteen  years  of  his  episcopate,  con- 
fidence in  him  never  for  a  moment  wavered,  but 
grew  stronger  and  stronger  until  the  day  of  his 
death.  His  diocese  stood  around  him  as  one  man 
and  one  heart.  Never  was  a  bishop  who  had  a 
stronger  hold  upon  his  clergy  and  laity,  —  it  was 
a  revered  father  and  loving  children,  —  never  was 
a  diocese  more  happily  united.  His  will  was  ours  : 
his  slightest  wish  was  to  us  imperative  as  law. 
His  rule,  which  we  never  felt,  was  absolute,  at  the 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      26 1 

very  time  we  sighed,  that  he  would  not  rule. 
This,  perhaps,  was  one  of  the  secrets  of  his  great 
influence :  what  he  would  not  seek  was  freely 
given  to  him.  Most  remarkable  was  the  proof  of 
our  perfect  trust  in  him,  —  a  proof  without  prece- 
dent in  the  whole  history  of  our  confederate 
Church,  —  when  two  years  ago,  by  a  formal  vote 
of  our  Convention,  as  unanimous  as  his  election 
was,  the  entire  control  of  our  Diocesan  Missions 
was  confided  to  his  hands.  It  was  a  confidence 
which  the  Church  of  the  diocese  nobly  indorsed 
the  same  year  by  doubling  its  contributions.  It 
was  then  we  passed  the  formal  vote  ;  but  that  vote 
was  only  the  recorded  expression  of  what  had 
been,  from  the  beginning,  our  practice.  It  gave 
him  no  powers  which  he  had  not,  by  general  ap- 
probation and  consent,  always  exercised. 

"  Bishop  Cobbs,  in  accepting  the  Episcopate  of 
Alabama,  did  not  underrate  the  difficulties  he 
would  have  to  encounter  and  overcome.  He 
counted  the  cost  before  he  began  to  build,  and 
realized  that-  it  was  a  venture  of  faith.  In  large 
portions  of  the  diocese,  the  Church  was  altogether 
unknown  ;  in  other  parts,  the  strongest  and  most 
unfounded  prejudices  existed  against  her.  Her 
doctrines  were  not  understood  :  her  practice  was 
misrepresented.  She  was,  they  said,  a  cold,  for- 


262      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

mal,  dead  Church,  having  but  a  name  to  live,  with 
the  form  of  godliness,  but  not  the  power.  That 
ignorance  was  to  be  enlightened :  that  prejudice 
must  be  lived  down,  and  overcome.  Before  the 
Church  in  Alabama  could  have  any  real  growth, 
or  acquire  any  real  strength,  it  must  prove  its 
claims  to  the  respect  of  men.  It  must  show  by 
living  example,  as  well  as  by  precept,  that  it  was 
possible  for  a  Christian  man  to  live  within  its  pale. 
Upon  that  one  point,  all  her  future  depended. 
How  admirably  Bishop  Cobbs  worked  out  that 
theorem, — how,  in  his  own  person,  he  demon- 
strated that  truth,  and  so  laid  the  foundation  of 
future  success,  —  we  all  know.  It  was  for  him  to 
prepare  the  soil,  and  sow  the  seed  :  to  him  we  owe 
the  harvest  already  reaped,  and  shall  owe,  in  great 
part  at  least,  that  which  is  still  to  come.  Like 
the  Apostle,  'in  journeyings  often,'  in  protracted 
absence  from  home,  in  wearisome  waiting  upon 
our  water-courses,  in  heat  and  cold,  over  roads  to 
which  even  courtesy  could  scarce  give  the  name, 
by  labors  that  might  well  have  exhausted  more 
rugged  men,  he  penetrated  into  every  part  of  his 
large  diocese,  and  carried  with  him  the  gospel  and 
the  Church.  Says  Bishop  Elliott,  '  He  was  one  of 
the  holiest  men  I  ever  met."  He  so  wrought  that 
all  Alabama  met  him,  and  indorsed  the  truth  ;  and 
under  its  influence  the  diocese  grew  and  flourished. 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,  D.D.      26$ 

"  Bishop  Cobbs  was  not  what  Latimer  would 
call  'an  unpreaching  prelate.'  He  magnified  that 
part  of  his  office.  It  was  to  him  an  ordinance  of 
the  gospel,  and  he  was  never  so  much  at  home  as 
when  in  the  pulpit.  After  a  weary  journey,  it 
was  rest  to  him,  at  night,  to  proclaim  to  a  hand- 
ful, or  to  a  gathered  multitude,  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ.  His  preaching  was  plain,  simple, 
and  direct.  He  sought  no  aid  of  ornament,  he 
indulged  in  no  flights  of  fancy,  he  made  no  vain  dis- 
play of  learning.  He  preached  Christ,  not  himself ; 
and  not  himself  preached  Christ,  but  the  Church 
through  him.  No  one  knew  this  distinction  better 
than  he,  who  was  often  heard  to  say,  that  the 
preacher  in  the  Church  of  Christ  was  no  mere 
man  of  thirty,  or  threescore,  but  a  man  hoary 
with  eighteen  hundred  years.  With  a  plain,  Saxon 
style,  which  was  all  his  own,  —  a  style  toned  down 
by  severe  discipline  from  that  ornate  exuberance 
of  metaphor  and  ornament  which  characterized 
his  earlier  productions,  when  poetry  and  song 
guided  his  pen,  and  warmed  his  heart, — with  a 
peculiar  delivery,  he  never  failed  to  arrest  atten- 
tion, and  to  reach  the  heart.  There  have  been 
few  preachers  more  effective.  If  not  an  orator  in 
the  popular  sense,  he  had  one  of  the  best  elements 
of  oratory.  His  sermons  were  realities  :  he  be- 
lieved what  he  said.  Every  word  and  tone  and 


264      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

gesture  bore  the  impress  of  sincerity.  His  ser- 
mons were  brief,  confined  generally  to  a  single 
point ;  and  at  their  close,  —  it  is  the  truest  test  of 
merit,  —  his  hearers  thought  not  of  the  speaker, 
but  of  themselves  and  their  sins.  They  turned 
away,  ever  with  the  purpose  of  repentance  and 
amendment  in  their  hearts,  and  with  its  expres- 
sion upon  their  lips.  He  captivated,  not  their  in- 
tellects, but  their  hearts  :  and  out  of  the  stores  of 
his  large  experience  the  Christian  was  edified  and 
instructed,  and  the  sinful  persuaded,  and  eager 
multitudes  hung  upon  his  words  ;  for  he  spake  to 
them  with  the  eloquence  of  sincerity  and  truth, 
and  with  the  power  of  God. 

"Bishop  Cobbs  was  not  a  man  ambitious  of 
authorship :  he  shrank  from  observation  with  a 
woman's  timidity.  Apart  from  his  episcopal  ad- 
dresses, his  appearances  before  the  public  were 
most  rare  :  some  seven  occasional  sermons  make 
up  the  tale.  In  nearly  every  such  case,  his  words 
sank  deep  into  the  Christian  heart,  and  in  the 
form  of  tracts  have  been  widely  circulated,  some 
of  them  in  many  editions.  They  were  plain, 
pointed,  practical,  the  fruit  of  ripened  wisdom 
and  long  experience,  and  of  that  rare  quality, 
common  sense,  which  he  possessed  in  an  eminent 
degree.  The  same  remark  will  apply  to  his  ad- 
dresses to  his  convention.  There  was  not  a  word 


RT.  REV.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      26$ 

in  them  for  display,  no  circumlocution,  no  sound- 
ing phrase.  He  seldom  travelled  beyond  the 
record  :  he  spake  for  Alabama,  not  for  the  world. 
A  brief  detail  of  his  official  acts,  —  brief,  the 
better  to  conceal  his  immense  amount  of  work,  — 
a  few  plain,  practical  suggestions  touching  the 
interests  of  the  diocese,  and  the  analysis  is  com- 
plete. There  was  no  exordium,  no  peroration, 
ivery  seldom  such  a  digression,  as  when  his  heart 
broke  out  into  that  eloquent  tribute  to  the  mem- 
ory of  that  'great-hearted  shepherd,'  Bishop 
Doane.  But  upon  what  concerned  his  diocese, 
what  would  promote  its  interests,  we  had  line 
upon  line  :  here  he  never  wearied.  His  warnings 
to  his  clergy  against  pseudo-catholicity,  against 
the  errors  of  Rome  and  Geneva,  against  all  inno- 
vations upon  the  ancient  usages  of  the  Church ; 
his  exhortations  to  combine  in  our  preaching 
'Evangelic  truth  with  Apostolic  order,'  to  set 
forth,  side  by  side,  as  cardinal  truths,  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith,  and  the  importance  of  the 
sacraments  and  offices  of  the  Church  —  the  body 
and  soul  of  Christ's  religion,  as  he  termed  them 
— to  proclaim  everywhere,  and  at  all  times,  Christ 
and  His  Church, — these  still  ring  in  our  ears: 
may  their  influence  never  die  in  our  hearts  !  Our 
Diocesan  Missions,  the  subject  of  his  last  as  of 
his  first  address  to  us ;  our  Diocesan  School ; 


266      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

the  Religious  Instruction  of  Servants,  which 
had  been  the  life-long  subject  of  his  interest ; 
the  Catechetical  Training  of  Children  ;  the  Widow 
and  Orphan's  Society;  the  Endowment  of  the 
Episcopate ;  the  due  Support  of  the  Clergy,  — 
these  were  the  themes  upon  which  he  dwelt, 
themes  to  him  ever  new,  because  ever  interesting, 
because  upon  them  our  growth  as  a  Church  and 
diocese  depended. 

"No  notice  of  Bishop  Cobbs  could  do  him  jus- 
tice that  omitted  the  fact  that  he  was  a  man  given 
to  hospitality.  In  him,  it  was  a  virtue  in  excess. 
There  was  ever  a  seat  at  his  table  for  the  stranger 
and  the  friend  :  in  his  house,  guests  were  never 
wanting.  It  was  thronged  from  all  parts  of  the 
diocese,  we  might  say  from  all  parts  of  the  land. 
He  lived  to  make  others  happy,  and  was  never 
himself  so  happy  as  when  his  bounteous  board 
was  crowded  with  many  friends.  With  his  genial 
spirit  and  kindly  heart,  —  for  in  his  religion, 
there  was  nothing  forbidding  or  morose,  —  he 
entered  into  their  feelings,  and  especially  of  the 
young,  and  made,  as  well  as  shared,  their  pleas- 
ure ;  and  a  day  at  the  Bishop's  was  always  a  day 
of  joy. 

"  His  charity  was  as  unbounded  as  his  hospital- 
ity. It  was  not  in  his  heart  to  resist  any  appeal  of 
distress  ;  and  with  the  poor  he  would  have  shared 


KT.  REV.   NICHOLAS  HAMNER   COBBS,   D.D.      26/ 

his  last  penny,  and  his  last  morsel  of  bread. 
There  was  but  one  measure  to  his  generosity,  — 
the  limit  of  his  means  and  power.  While  the 
barrel  of  meal  wasted  not,  and  the  cruse  of  oil 
did  not  fail,  whole  families  of  the  poor  lived  upon 
his  bounty  ;  and  if  his  resources  were  like  to  be 
exhausted,  he  would  quietly  turn  away  the  word 
of  caution  from  a  friend  with  'Jehovah  Jireh/ 
—  the  Lord  will  provide. 

"  The  success  of  the  administration  of  his  dio- 
cese by  Bishop  Cobbs  was  answerable  to  his  great 
qualities.  He  found  it  weak,  a  Church  with  no 
popular  prestige,  an  unsettled  and  rapidly  chan- 
ging clergy.  In  the  Convention  that  elected  him, 
but  eight  clerical  names  appear  on  the  roll  as  en- 
titled to  a  vote  and  seat.  He  left  it  united,  vigor- 
ous, and  growing  rapidty  in  numbers  and  in 
strength.  An  endowed  episcopate ;  a  Widow 
and  Orphan's  Society,  whose  vested  funds  will 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  like  societies  in 
the  older  and  wealthier  dioceses  ;  a  flourishing 
Diocesan  School ;  the  parishes  more  than  doubled  ; 
the  clergy  and  communicants  quadrupled  ;  the  alms 
and  oblations  many-fold  increased ;  a  vigorous  sys- 
tem of  missions,  —  these  are  facts  that  make  his 
monument,  and  speak  his  praise.  He  was  not 
only  a  good,  but  a  successful,  Bishop,  even  as  the 
world  counts  success,  by  actual  results.  He  was 


268      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

however,  a  pioneer  :  his  time  and  labor  were  spent 
in  laying  broad  and  deep  foundations,  and  not 
upon  the  visible  walls  of  the  temple.  How  he 
labored,  what  success  he  achieved,  is  hidden  still 
in  the  womb  of  time ;  but  as  long  as  the  Church 
in  Alabama  shall  have  any  existence,  she  will  reap 
the  fruit  of  the  toils  and  prayers  of  her  first-loved 
Bishop,  and  her  children's  children  shall  rise  up 
to  call  him  blessed." 

THE  FAEEWELL  MESSAGE  TO  THE  CLEEGT  OF  THE  PEOTESTANT 
EPISCOPAL  CHUECH  IN  THE  DIOCESE  OF  ALABAMA. 

"First  of  all,  give  to  each  and  every  one  of 
them,  individually,  my  love  and  my  blessing ; 
and  tell  them,  that  as  during  my  whole  episco- 
pate it  has  been  my  earnest  purpose  and  con- 
stant endeavor  to  be,  and  to  show  myself  to  be, 
the  personal  friend  and  helper  of  every  clergy- 
man in  my  diocese,  so  now  I  have  them  all  still 
in  my  heart. 

"  As  to  my  religious  belief,  tell  them,  that,  by 
God's  grace,  I  shall  die  in  the  faith  in  which  I 
have  lived,  and  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
preach.  I  have  been  called  a  'Puseyite,'  a  'High 
Churchman,"  and  the  like.  Tell  them  I  dislike 
party  names,  and  loathe  party  lines  in  the  Church 
of  Christ  ;  but  next  to  Christ,  who  is  the  Head, 
I  love  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body,  with 


RT.  REV.   NICHOLAS  HAMNER   CO  BBS,   D.D.      269 

my  whole  heart.  I  have  attached,  and  do  still 
attach,  great  importance  to  her  offices  and  sacra- 
ments ;  and  I  believe  in  '  Baptismal  Regenera- 
tion,' and  'Apostolic  Succession,'  as  firmly  as 
I  do  any  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel ;  but  I  am  not  conscious  that  I  have 
ever  preached  any  thing  but  '  JESUS  CHRIST 
AND  HIM  CRUCIFIED;'  and  now,  in  this  solemn 
hour,  reviewing  my  ministry,  I  cannot  recall  a 
single  sentiment,  either  in  my  sermons  or  my 
pastoral  addresses,  which  I  desire  erased  or 
changed. 

"As  to  my  hope  of  justification  with  God, 
tell  them  that  '  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners!  I  have  been 
called  'a  good  man,'  'a  kind  man,'  from  my  youth 
up.  I  do  not  say  whether  justly  or  otherwise. 
I  have  tried  to  show  kindness  and  sympathy  to 
all,  especially  to  the  poor,  to  the  afflicted,  and 
to  the  bereaved ;  and  I  am  certain  that  I  do 
not  now  bear  malice,  or  cherish  unkind  feelings, 
towards  anybody  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth. 
But  if  I  have  done  any  kind  deeds  or  any  good 
works,  I  am  sure  I  make  no  merit  of  them,  but 
cast  them  all  behind  my  back,  and  nauseate  them, 
and  spit  upon  them  '  as  filthy  rags  ; '  and,  count- 
ing myself  'an  unprofitable  servant,'  I  look  only 


2/O     REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 

'  unto  Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,' 
and  say, 

'  In  my  hand  no  price  I  bring, 
Simply  to  Thy  cross  I  cling.' 

"  As  to  my  present  state  of  mind,  tell  them  I 
heartily  thank  God  for  this  sickness.  I  know 
not  yet  what  is  to  be  the  issue.  I  have  no  will 
nor  wish  in  the  matter. 

'  Nor  life  nor  death  I  crave,' 

but  simply  to  do,  to  bear,  to  suffer,  and  to  glorify 
the  will  of  God.  This  is  my  sentiment  now,  and 
it  is  the  sentiment  with  which  I  hope  to  die. 

"And  with  my  farewell  blessing  upon  them, 
upon  their  families,  upon  their  parishes,  and  upon 
my  whole  diocese,  tell  them  that  their  dying 
Bishop  exhorts  them  to  strive  to  be  MEN  OF  GOD  : 
—  men  of  peace,  men  of  brotherly-kindness,  men 
of  charity ;  self-denying  men,  men  of  purity,  men 
of  prayer ;  men  striving  to  '  perfect  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God,'  and  laboring  and  preaching  with 
an  eye  single  to  His  glory  and  the  salvation  of 
souls." 


CONCLUSION.  271 


CONCLUSION. 

IF  this  book  be  read  by  any  who  hold  opposite 
opinions,  it  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  the  subject  of 
criticism,  and  I  do  not  at  all  deprecate  it.  If 
there  be  any  view  herein  presented  that  is  con- 
trary to  the  truth,  let  it  perish  under  rebuke. 

By  some  it  will  be  condemned  as  calculated  to 
stir  up  memories  of  events  that  should  pass  into 
oblivion.  Others  will  say  that  it  does  not  become 
an  ambassador  of  the  "Prince  of  Peace"  to 
awaken  such  memories.  To  all  which,  I  give  for 
answer,  that  the  proclamation  of  truth  will  always 
arouse  the  opposition  of  error,  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  right  will  always  provoke  the  antagonism 
of  wrong.  All  history  teaches  that  no  truth  has 
ever  gained  footing  in  this  evil  world  save  by 
putting  down  error,  and  no  right  has  ever  been 
established  save  by  combating  and  overthrowing 
wrong. 

This  book  is  "dedicated  to  the  Cause  and  Main- 
tenance of  Truth,  Right,  and  Peace."  Truth  first, 
then  Peace.  There  is  a  peace  which  results  from 
the  triumph  of  brute  force.  This  is  not  the  peace 


2/2      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

that  should  reign  among  the  children  of  "  our 
Father." 

If  this,  our  country,  shall  ever  be  fully  equipped 
for  her  grand  mission  upon  earth,  it  will  only  be 
when  mutual  respect  shall  prevail,  and  when  the 
great  principles  upon  which  the  late  war  was 
waged  shall  be  thoroughly  studied,  and  clearly 
understood.  This  cannot  be  unless  every  man  in 
his  sphere,  and  from  his  own  stand-point,  shall 
speak  out  fearlessly,  and  with  more  deference  to 
truth  than  to  policy.  A  peace  which  is  not 
founded  upon  mutual  respect  is  an  insult  on  the 
part  of  the  one  section  of  our  country,  and  a  dis- 
honor to  the  other. 

If  I  did  not  believe  in  my  heart  that  the  publi- 
cation of  these  reminiscences  and  memoirs  would 
in  the  end  —  so  far  as  they  have  any  force  —  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  peace,  by  demonstration  of 
the  truth,  I  would  turn  these  pages  into  ashes. 

It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  —  as  is  commonly 
said  —  that  "  the  trouble  is  now  all  over,  and  the 
country  is  one  and  undivided  :  let  us  bury  in  the 
grave  all  disturbing  memories."  This  is  all  very 
well  for  the  capitalist  and  the  politician.  Un- 
happily, their  vocations  are  not  much  disturbed 
by  sentiment.  There  were  great  moral  questions 
involved  in  the  late  conflict.  Great  men  and 
good  men  went  into  the  contest  with  clear  heads, 


CONCLUSION.  2/3 

warm  hearts,  and  tender  consciences,  and  they 
have  come  out  of  it  with  the  same  heads,  hearts, 
and  consciences.  Have  we  nothing  to  learn 
from  such  a  struggle  ?  Has  no  truth  been  estab- 
lished ?  Is  there  no  moral  to  such  a  drama  ? 
Was  it  a  fight  among  brute  beasts,  that  must  be 
"  clean  forgotten  and  out  of  mind  "  ? 

Yes,  we  have  one  undivided  country.  For  one, 
I  thank  God  for  it.  I  have  never  doubted  that 
the  restoration  of  the  Union  was  a  great  necessity 
for  the  welfare  of  our  country.  Man  plans  for  the 
hour :  the  Almighty  Creator  plans  for  the  ages. 
But  the  recognition  of  this  fact  does  not  at  all 
affect  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  the  case,  moral 
or  political,  which  is  involved  in  this  vast  question 
under  review.  It  is  only  one  of  the  innumerable 
examples  which  history  affords  of  the  marvellous 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  Divine  Providence,  which 
is  ever  bringing  good  out  of  evil  —  causing  even 
the  wrath  of  men  and  the  malice  of  Satan  to  bring 
blessings  to  the  children  of  men.  An  enemy 
may  thrust  me  through  with  a  sword,  designing 
my  destruction.  Instead  of  striking  a  vital  point 
in  my  body,  he  pierces,  we  will  suppose,  a  malig- 
nant tumor,  which  has  long  been  an  unknown 
cause  of  pain  and  sickness.  His  thrust  gives  me 
renewed  life,  but  he  intended  my  death.  I  thank 
a  kind  Providence  which  brought  good  to  me  out 


2/4      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

of  intended  evil.  I  do  not  feel  any  special  thank- 
fulness to  my  enemy.  Take  an  illustration  on  a 
larger  scale.  It  was  a  day  of  blessing  to  the 
brethren  of  Joseph  when,  under  the  pinchings  of 
hunger,  they  found  corn  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  their  brother  in  the  seat  of  authority.  The 
people  of  Israel  were  delivered  out  of  much 
tribulation.  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  brethren 
of  Joseph  laid  claim  to  any  great  merit  for  having 
sold  him  into  captivity.  Their  iniquity,  I  take  it, 
was  none  the  less  for  the  mighty  good  which 
Providence  wrought  out  of  their  evil.  These 
familiar  examples  illustrate  the  great  principle, 
"  Fortuna  non  mutat  genus,"  which,  freely  trans- 
lated, may  read  thus  :  "  The  fortunate  issue 
of  an  enterprise  does  not  change  its  quality  or 
kind."  But  the  great  mass  of  people  disturb 
themselves  very  little  about  the  morale  of  their 
deeds,  provided  they  are  successful. 

Then,  again,  as  to  the  question  of  propriety  and 
decorum  on  the  part  of  an  ambassador  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace  in  treating  of  themes  which  may 
possibly  excite  debate  and  resentment,  I  have  this 
to  answer,  — that,  personally,  the  judgment  of  man 
has  no  weight  with  me.  "He  that  judgeth  me  is 
the  Lord."  Speaking  for  myself  officially,  as  an 
ambassador  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  I  have  this  to 
say,  —  that,  in  all  that  I  have  written,  I  have  not 


CONCLUSION.  275 

been  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  I  stand  in  this  re- 
lation both  to  man  and  the  Chief  Bishop.  He,  my 
Chief,  has  given  me  the  keynote  to  my  "  Reminis- 
cences." I  read  His  proclamation,  "I  came  not  to 
send  peace  upon  earth,  but  a  sword."  He  who 
does  not  know  how  to  interpret  this  grand  and  far- 
reaching  truth  may  be  a  sincere  Christian,  and  ear- 
nest follower  of  his  Lord,  but  I  don't  think  that  he 
can  carry  the  standard  of  his  Prince  into  the  con- 
flict for  great  principles.  For  myself,  I  should  be 
unwilling  to  bring  out  a  book  (and  this  is  my  first 
and  probably  last  book)  which  all  men  would  ap- 
prove, and  none  would  antagonize.  There  are  not 
only  questions  of  constitutional  principle,  but  deep 
questions  of  morals,  involved  in  the  matters  treated 
of  herein.  I  was  a  slaveholder,  and  an  ardent 
patriot  from  the  Southern  point  of  view.  As  such, 
I  have  nothing  to  repent  of,  and  nothing  to  retract. 
I  tried  to  do  my  full  duty  in  both  of  these  rela- 
tions. I  have  no  quarrel  with  any  man,  who,  from 
his  point  of  view,  considers  me,  in  one  of  these  rela- 
tions, a  violator  of  pure  morality,  and,  in  the  other, 
a  rebel  against  the  government.  But,  whilst  I 
have  no  quarrel  with  such  a  one,  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  he  can  pardon  my  sin  without  some 
manifestation  of  penitence  on  my  part.  Treason 
is  a  great  crime,  and  a  traitor  should  be  hung. 
How  can  any  one  who  considers  me  a  traitor  fra- 


276     REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

ternize  with  me,  and  condone  such  an  offence  ? 
Does  it  not  become  an  ambassador  of  Christ  (and 
because  he  represents  Christ)  to  purge  himself 
from  the  charge  of  treason  by  showing  justifica- 
tion of  his  deeds  and  thoughts  ? 

These  are  the  questions  which  justify  me  (speak- 
ing as  a  minister  of  Christ,  and  for  the  ministry 
of  Christ  in  the  South)  in  setting  forth  in  unam- 
biguous language  what  I  believe  in  all  conscience 
to  be  the  truth.  Should  the  views  expressed  in 
this  volume  tend  in  any  measure  to  bring  out  the 
truth  and  the  right  of  the  cause  which  I  am  vindi- 
cating, then  is  my  design  accomplished,  and  I 
shall  hail  the  peace  resulting  therefrom  as  an  hon- 
orable and  enduring  peace,  —  a  peace  founded  in 
truth  and  righteousness. 

And  now,  my  children,  for  whose  special  behoof 
I  have  penned  these  lines,  I  have  but  a  word 
more  to  say.  I  have  treated  of  difficult  and  deli- 
cate themes.  I  have  used  all  my  endeavors  to 
treat  every  point  with  entire  candor  and  fidelity 
to  truth.  I  am  a  fallible  man,  and  may  possibly 
have  erred  in  many  things  treated  of.  Coming 
generations  must  pass  judgment  upon  all  our  pres- 
ent decisions,  and  may  reverse  them  all.  Should 
you,  in  a  clearer  light  than  has  been  vouchsafed  to 
me,  reach  a  conclusion  different  from  mine,  then, 
in  the  name  of  Truth,  Right,  and  Peace,  cling  to 


CONCLUSION.  277 

your  own  convictions,  ever  looking  up  to  the 
Fountain  of  all  Truth,  "The  Father  of  lights," 
and  asking  for  wisdom  to  perceive,  and  strength 
to  maintain,  all  that  you  ought  to  think  and  to  do. 

I  have  mused  over  this  subject  many  years. 
"  Whilst  musing,  the  fire  has  burned  ; "  and  at  the 
last  I  have  spoken  —  God  grant  —  the  truth.  In 
naught  have  I  extenuated,  nor  have  I  set  down 
aught  in  malice. 

And  in  full  mindfulness  of  human  frailty  and 
folly,  I  make  mine  own  the  language  of  St. 
Augustine,  — 

"  O  Domine  Deust  qucecunque  dixi  de  Tno,  ag- 
noscant,  et  Tui ;  si  qucs  de  Meo,  et  Tu  ignosce,  et 
Tut." 


278      REMINISCENCES  OF  A   GRANDFATHER. 


APPENDIX. 

Letters  of  John  Stewart  referred  to  in  the  "  Eeminisoenoes." 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  July  27,  1858. 

"Mv  DEAR  FRIEND,  —  Have  you  accepted  any  place 
yet?  "  (I  had  several  invitations  before  me  at  the  time.) 
"  I  hope  not,  for  I  have  a  plan  for  your  consideration  and 
prayer.  It  has  been  long  in  my  head ;  but  I  have  waited 
for  the  removal  of  obstacles,  which  Providence  has  now 
done.  It  embraces  country-life,  farm-employment,  plenty 
of  work  in  God's  vineyard  in  building  up  a  church,  and  a 
support  while  it  is  going  on  in  its  infancy  or  weakness 
—  given  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  come  in  conflict  with 
your  entire  independence  as  a  gentleman  or  a  minister, 
or  to  weaken  your  hold  upon  the  affection  of  your  con- 
gregation. 

"  Details  are  for  conference,  not  for  a  letter.  All  I  can 
say  is,  while  I  am  conscious  of  some  selfishness  in  wish- 
ing you  for  my  pastor,  yet,  as  far  as  I  know  myself,  my 
main  desire  is  to  show  my  love  and  gratitude  to  Him 
who  has  done  so  much  for  me  by  bringing  His  blessed 
gospel  to  be  preached  to  the  poor  black  and  white 
around  me. 

"  To  insure  any  chance  of  success,  it  is  necessary,  that, 
outwardly,  I  should  not  be  too  prominent,  but,  while  you 


APPENDIX.  279 

give  yourself  to  your  high  and  sacred  duties,  it  would  be 
my  business  to  see  that  your  support  was  secured,  and 
secured  in  such  a  way  that  I  would  not  be  known  in  it, 
and  that  I  could  not  change  it  if  I  would. 

"Think  over  this,  and  do  not  hastily  throw  it  aside. 
If  after  spreading  it,  like  King  Hezekiah,  before  the  Lord, 
asking  and  obtaining  His  counsel,  you  decide  against, 
it,  I  shall  bow  to  His  decision,  waiting  upon  Him  to 
make  my  path  clear. 

"  I  feel  now,  in  every  day  of  idleness  or  postponement, 
as  if  I  were  one  of  those  '  wicked  and  slothful  servants > 
whose  fate  I  wish  to  shun." 

Again,  under  date  of  3Oth  of  July,  he  writer 
thus  :  — 

"  I  have  just  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  your  letter 
hurriedly  in  this  place  of  business.  I  write  that  I  was 
necessarily  vague  as  to  details,  for  in  their  adjustment  my 
mind  would  be  very  elastic  to  suit  all  the  circumstances 
which  might  arise. 

"  The  main  thought  is  this,  —  that  here  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  a  poor  heathenized,  or  rapidly  becoming  so,  pop- 
ulation, white  and  black ;  with  material  all  around  far  more 
promising  to  human  eye  for  the  formation  of  an  endur- 
ing church  than  in  three-fourths  of  the  recently  formed 
country-churches  in  Virginia;  that  the  natural  process 
being  for  the  gospel  to  leaven  parts  adjacent,  radiating 
from  the  towns  as  centres  until  finally  it  overspreads 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  why  should  it  not  do 


280      REMINISCENCES  OF  A    GRANDFATHER. 

so,  or  begin  to  do  so,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Richmond  ? 
I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be,  that,  with  the 
proper  man,  —  that  is,  with  love  to  Christ,  and,  with 
Christ,  for  human  souls,  with  energy,  and  what  is  called  tact 
and  good  sense,  good  feeling,  and  a  good  way  of  showing 
all  things,  so  as  to  draw  and  touch  that  strangely  compli- 
cated machine,  the  human  heart,  —  we  may  not  ask  and 
look  for  the  blessing  of  God ;  and  with  this,  success  is 
certain.  Not  such  as  will  make  much  stir  or  noise  in 
this  world,  —  though,  it  may  be,  in  heaven,  where  fame  is 
worth  having.  I  am  not  blinded  by  personal  attachment 
when  I  say  that  I  think  you  are  that  man." 

And  then,  again,  in  his  letter  of  date  Dec.  13, 
1858,  he  writes,  — 

"Yours  of  the  8th  just  reached  me.  While  I  held 
it  in  my  hand,  before  opening  it,  my  heart  was  lifted 
to  Him  'from  Whom  cometh  our  help,'  that,  if  it 
was  an  acceptance,  His  blessing  would  rest  upon  His 
own  work,  and  cause  it  to  prosper ;  and  if  it  was  a  rejec- 
tion, that  still  His  blessing  would  rest  upon  His  own 
work,  and  make  my  path  plain  before  me  what  to  do, 
meanwhile  waiting  patiently  for  an  opening  or  an  indica- 
tion of  what  He  would  have  me  to  do. 

"  Your  letter  delivers  me  from  all  doubt.  My  views 
have  undergone  no  change.  Whatever  difficulty  I  may 
have  felt,  or  modesty  in  urging,  was  on  your  account ;  for 
I  felt  the  truth  of  what  you  said,  that  '  your  risk  was  the 
greatest.'  But  now  that  you  have  decided,  and,  I  be- 


APPENDIX.  28l 

lieve,  have  been  led  by  God  to  decide,  I  have  increased 
faith  and  hope  that,  in  spite  of  the  dross  which  mingled 
with  my  motives,  He  will  for  His  name's  sake  give  us 
His  blessing  rich  and  durable ;  though  it  may  come,  not 
in  the  way  flesh  and  blood  would  like  at  the  beginning. 
These  crosses  may  be  necessary  to  put  out  the  '  wood, 
hay,  and  stubble '  which  may  be  mingled  with  my  mo- 
tives ;  for,  although  I  am  not  conscious  of  cherishing  any, 
yet  He  who  searches  the  heart  may  see  stubble  where  I 
only  see  wheat." 

Whoso  is  wise  will  ponder  these  things ;    and 
may  God  give  him  grace  to  go  and  do  likewise ! 


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